The last few years have seen a very fast increase in the use of biologicals and biocontrol agents in crop protection and agricultural products as part of the shift towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture.
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Hydroalcoholic hand sanitizers are the best option to keep up your hand hygiene when soap and water are not accessible. They are one of the most used and needed products these days. If you are considering formulating a hand sanitizer, read about how you can use Exilva Microfibrillated Cellulose, a biobased material, to structure and thicken your formulations as well as provide a non-tacky feel.
Starch is a natural polymer found in many processes either as an adhesive or a thickener. Following paper production, corrugated board is the second largest application of non-food starches globally, where it it used as an adhesive between the fluting and liners. The control of the adhesive viscosity during process and storage is critical. However, despite further developments regarding the formulation of starch adhesives, the viscosity is commonly not stable enough over extended periods of time, in particular over weekend storage. In this first of a series of blog posts with the corrugated boards application as the example, I will give an introduction to this problem, and the new technology of Exilva, a microfibrillated cellulose, to solve it.
Most innovation is focused on improving core business, both in small increments and large jumps, to keep ahead of competitors. Disruption can make such innovation worthless e.g. in 2004, wet film photographic technology was overwhelmed by digital photography.
In this article we look at how innovation is becoming a vital part of corporate risk management, developing alternative survival strategies as disruptive changes hit organisations.
Faced with disruptive changes to the economic environment, only those businesses that are flexible and responsive can survive and prosper. Those not responding quickly enough will die off like the dinosaurs, but it’s getting harder to react enough in time – now you need to pre-empt change.
This article continues to illustrate the risks of not being ahead of the game so looks at investing wisely in exploiting advances in materials and technology to survive and prosper, like the birds.
Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) has a good film-forming ability, where the film is strong and light. In addition, the films are opaque, translucent or even transparent depending on the thickness of the film and type of MFC. They also show good oxygen barrier properties. Moreover, MFC can be combined with different polymers or fillers to obtain even more versatile material. In this post, we want to show the potential of MFC films in various applications. Let’s start by discussing how MFC films can be made and then see what kind of applications these films may have.
Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) and Exilva microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) can both be used as rheology modifiers in a variety of industries to prevent sedimentation and settling. In this article, I review the ability of the materials to give a yield stress in a waterbased system and, because of that, provide anti-settling and anti-sedimentation behavior. Tune-in on a comparison between these two rheology additives.
Undesirable phenomena such as sedimentation and settling can often occur during the storage of paints. Therefore, a re-dispersion step is necessary which can mean additional cost. These challenges can be even more pronounced in high solid content formulations and so it is crucial to secure stability of those systems. To avoid these effects, rheology modifiers need to be added to paint formulations. So, I prepared some information for you and conducted a couple of tests with the rheology additive nanocellulose to show you how focus on yield stress will reduce sedimentation and settling.
Paint manufacturers have been formulating paints containing microspheres in many years. Formulators can use microspheres to increase the solid content of a coating while maintaining the proper application and flow characteristics. Higher solids can reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), shrinkage and drying time. But there can be problems with settling and sedimentation, as well as floating of the microspheres. In addition, cost of certain types of microspheres can be high. In this article I will show you how the microfibrillated cellulose technology can give anti-settling and anti-sedimentation of microspheres, as well as enabling you to choose less expensive microspheres and obtain the same performance, which typically has been associated with more expensive types.
The pursue for a more efficient and increasingly EHS improved way of incorporating microfibrillated cellulose into polymers for polymer melts (thermoplastics) has been going on for years. Thermoplastics are an important source for many final products and applications. By introducing microfibrillated cellulose into polymers by the means of liquid suspension, Gneuss have been able to avoid the agglomeration of powder form similar particles, as well as improve the EHS profile of such a process.
Long-standing policies towards research and development no longer support manufacturers’ success, as mergers and globalization continue, due to: 1) Demands for bigger profits from investors who are distant from the business reality; 2) Bigger investment in innovation needed to give future success; 3) Shortening timescales as globalization introduces pressures from BRIC economies.
