HAMBURG, Germany — Biesterfeld is expanding its long-term partnership with South Korean manufacturer SONGWON. Building on the partners' successful collaboration in the distribution of stabilisers, UV protection agents and UV initiators for plastics and coatings, the portfolio will now be expanded to include the new functional monomers product group. Biesterfeld will be responsible for the European distribution of approximately 20 new products consisting of bisphenol-based monomers and high-performance monomers based on diacid anhydrides and dicyclopentadiene-phenol adducts (DCPD) for the production and modification of bonding agents.

Functional monomers can improve the properties of standard polymers and substantially increase processing performance. They are suitable for the manufacturing and modification of epoxy, phenol, polyester and powder coating resins. Functional monomers can also be used for resins, polymers and copolymers based on polycarbonate, polyimide, polyamide and polybenzoxazine. As well as modifying the viscosity and melting point, these special molecules can be used to optimize flexibility and thermal and mechanical properties. The powdered and crystalline monomers have a very high degree of purity and are used as additives and monomers in copolymers or homopolymers, enabling tailor-made binder production.

"Resin manufacturers can benefit even more from the high performance, cost efficiency and competitive prices of our functional monomers, because we are now producing them in large quantities," said Heinrich Schulte, head of Market Center Functional Monomers at SONGWON. "Our products are already well established on the Asian market, so now, working with Biesterfeld, we want to bring them to the European market."

"The new functional monomers are also game changers for manufacturers of binders for the paint and plastics industry," said Lukas Eckl, Product Manager CASE, Biesterfeld Spezialchemie. "For customers who want to avoid bisphenol, the DCPD types will be especially interesting. Thanks to the individual dosage options, solutions can be tailor made to suit customer requirements."