MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, will broaden its collaboration with Engineering Plastics division of Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp. to promote Clariant's non-halogenated flame retardants to a host of applications in China, as per the company's press release.
Shinkong Engineering Plastics belongs to Taiwan’s top 3 enterprise, Shinkong Group. As a leading supplier of plastics, it serves various industries including electronics, home appliances and automotive etc. Its halogen-free compounds based on Clariant's flame retardants are experiencing rising demand as more and more OEM manufacturers in the electronics and electrical appliances industry eliminate components with bromine and PVC from their products because of tightening environmental regulations.
"The collaboration with Shinkong will certainly help Clariant broaden its distribution horizon for non-halogenated flame retardants. Leveraging Shinkong's extensive portfolio of leading customers within the segments of home appliances, automotive, electronics and electrical parts, Clariant's flame retardants will find new room for application expansion, especially in China," explains Darren Soo, Head of Sales Greater China, Clariant Business Unit Additives.
Clariant's halogen-free flame retardant Exolit OP was first introduced to Shinkong 13 years ago for innovative polyester compound development. After its commercialization in 2005, Shinkong was the first company in the Greater China region to promote halogen-free PBT compounds. Exolit OP 1240 has been used by Shinkong ever since.
Clariant's Exolit OP phosphinate flame retardants offer high thermal stability and best in class CTI (Comparative Tracking Index) performance. Applications range from high temperature polyamides for lead-free soldering via engineering thermoplastics and thermoplastic elastomers for wire and cables to thermoset epoxy adhesives for printed wiring boards. With tailor-made formulations for a variety of polymers fully available for commercial products, the Exolit OP series offers good versatility for a host of applications, such as computer cooling fans, connectors and other electrical parts.
Clariant and Shinkong will jointly promote halogen-free flame retardant solutions in PBT and PA66, both commonly used in computer components, during the forthcoming K-fair plastics exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany on October 19-26. Show visitors will have the chance to learn about flame retardants' capabilities and profiles in full details.
Besides their joint promotion efforts on PBT and PA compounds, the two companies may also extend their collaboration further to include TPE-E compounds for extrusion wire and cable and injection parts in the future. The two companies' shared vision on sustainability has also widened their scope of future cooperation to include new areas such as flame retardant application for electric cars and their charging facilities.
As MRC reported earlier, this week, Clariant announced the official opening of its new polypropylene (PP) catalyst production facility in Louisville, KY, USA. The new plant, developed and implemented in cooperation with CB&I, makes the Louisville site Clariant's largest US production hub for catalysts and marks a further investment by Clariant to accelerate growth in North America.
Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
MRC