After completing the acquisition of the Performance Materials Division of Air Products in January this year, Evonik Industries is gradually becoming one of the leading suppliers in the coating additive industry. Since January 3, 2017, the company has completed the integration of the coatings additives business line, the coatings business of the silica business line, and the specialty additives business of Air Products, with a focus on base wetting agents. Dr. Claus Rettig, Chairman of the Board of Management of Evonik Resource Efficiency GmbH, said: “This move creates a world-leading supplier of coating additives. Our technology platform is unique in the world and enables us to respond to any challenge regarding paint and coating formulations. problems and develop innovative solutions.”
The products under the new business line can achieve complementary advantages. A wide range of water-based coating additives under the original DIGO® brand will be combined with the AEROSIL® brand silica product line to control the rheology of paints, coatings and ACEMATT® brand matting agents. The acquisition of Air Products’ SURFYNOL® and DYNOLTM brands and their base wetting agents, as well as other specialty automotive coating formulations, perfectly complements the original paint additive product portfolio.
Dr. Gaetano Blanda, head of the new business line, said that this acquisition can create more value for customers and Evonik, which is also one of the most important goals of the acquisition. He hopes to further strengthen the team and has full confidence in the excellent talents in the team. The new business line has approximately 450 employees, 30 production and R&D bases, and produces approximately 500 products.
In addition to providing a richer range of products, the acquisition of Air Products’ functional materials division will not have any impact on customers for the time being. Blanda promised: “Customer contacts and existing contracts will remain unchanged. Our goal is to provide customers with the best products and services in the coating industry in the long term.”
The new coating additives business line successfully integrates the following three major businesses:
Air Products Performance Materials’ specialty additives business
For more than three decades, Air Products’ Performance Materials division has been an important supplier to the paint and coatings industry with its specialty additive technology. Its best-known products include SURFYNOL ® and DYNOLTM. The division offers a wide range of wetting agents, defoamers, grinding aids and dispersants to help formulators produce perfect coatings. The automotive industry is one of the most important application areas, and formulators of automotive coatings are facing challenges such as environmental protection, economy and defect-free coatings.
Silica coating
Among the series of coating products produced by Evonik’s silica business line, AEROSIL® and ACEMATT® are two well-known brands. AEROSIL® fumed silica is mainly used to control the rheology of paints and coatings, increase coating thickness or act as a thixotropic agent, anti-settling agent and optimize rust prevention function. ACEMATT® silica-based matting agent can change the surface layer of the paint so that incident light is selectively diffusely reflected. The bumps and valleys created by the matting agent particles on the paint surface are invisible to the human eye, so the paint color and underlying clear coat will not be significantly altered.
Coating additives
Evonik’s Coating Additives business line is a market leader, particularly in its water-based coatings products. The Digo® brand has more than 200 products for different functions of coatings, providing customers in the coating and printing ink industries with a variety of choices. In addition to defoaming agents and driers, additive products also include wetting agents, dispersing aids, flow aids, base wetting agents and hydrophobic additives. Auxiliary resins, nanoresins and specialty resins have also been added to the product portfolio.
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