The CO2 Coatings

DSM has teamed up with Novomer, a company in Waltham, Massachusetts, in which it holds a minority stake, to jointly develop a coating and adhesive resins using carbon dioxide (CO2) as raw material.

In 2007, this development agreement followed by a cooperation and investment by DSM Venturing into Novomer. A joint development project is expected to benefit from DSM access to markets and technology, as well as the technique of polymerization of CO2 Novomer.

Novomer develop chemistry and process technology to produce polymers from CO2 and propylene oxide (PO), while DSM will convert the polymers and resins in the formulation for applications such as coatings, adhesives and graphic arts. Companies have found the initial results encouraging and suggest that this project could lead to new and better properties of the coatings applied.

Once developed, the first polycarbonate resin used in applications such as paints, adhesives, inks and certain. The resin is made up to 50% by weight of CO2, so that not only remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but you also need the use of fossil fuels, raw materials and require less energy to produce than existing alternatives.

The production of this new material could begin next year and while the initial volume will necessarily be modest, it is technically possible that the new polycarbonate resin will become a common ingredient of coatings and other applications where conventional polycarbonates are used.

Rob van Leen, Chief Innovation Officer, DSM, said:  "DSM and Novomer trying to develop the first polymer is more than a decade to reach the finish this traditional industry is an exciting development may lead to a breakthrough that could change the industry, adding to the problems of cost, these innovative resins to address and performance on environmental issues. Therefore, they fit perfectly in the DSM "people, planet and profit approach '."

DSM and Novomer development project provides a fascinating insight into future production.

Climate change is a reality, and forward-thinking manufacturers hope to replace fossil fuels based on building blocks with more efficient alternatives that reduce and, ideally, prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

This may mean developing products and processes that produce the same end result of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or a more fundamental shift away from fossil fuels in favor of bio-materials such as plant material. This has already resulted in biofuels and other materials from biorenewable sources.

While the jump from materials based on fossil fuels to bio-based materials represent an evolutionary transformation of the chemical industry, DSM and Novomer, cooperation goes further, since polycarbonate resin developed by the two parties use actual CO2, which should not be "grown", but can be extracted directly from the atmosphere.

Source: www.impreglon.com/

5812-87 Street
Edmonton, AB T6E 2Y4

Phone: 780-465-5050
Email: contact@impreglon.com