The academy is here to serve you with information on how to get you up an running before ordering a sample of our Exilva product for the purposes of lab trials, pilot trials and full scale production.
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Welcome to the Exilva Academy. Cellulose fibrils are very effective in use, but we need to give you some important information on handling. And that's why we have created the Exilva academy; for your convenience and making the information available all in one place.
Exilva microfibrillated cellulose is water suspended, non-soluble, microfibers used in several application areas from cosmetics to paints and adhesives. Exilva fibrils form flexible aggregates with a high surface area allowing efficient interactions with the surroundings. When fully dispersed, Exilva possesses unique functionality as structured, thixotropic gel systems that are very dependent on the shear applied.
The concentration of the Exilva product influences the techniques chosen to prepare the suspensions. The 2% gel can be dispersed with lower shear into the formulation, whereas the 10% paste always requires the use of high shear. High shear means the use of a stator-rotor homogenizer (e.g., Ultra Turrax, Silverson) and low shear high stirring speed propeller or blade mixer. The tip speed is important and we recommend tip speeds of around 6 m/s for proper dispersion. This is only a recommendation and it will depend on the product system at hand.
Note that proper dispersion of Exilva is critical in order to obtain full functionality.
Resources
Watch our dispersion video to understand how proper dispersion affects the end result.
You are also free to download and print our dispersion guide.
Correct storage is very important to be able to keep the performance of Exilva. The cellulose fibril network in Exilva is dispersed in water, which means that it will be destroyed if kept in sub-zero temperatures. If the product freezes it will be destroyed. If you want to know more on storage of Exilva, download our storage description here.
The packaging, in which Exilva is delivered, is not resealable for a long period of time. This is due to evaporation of water and subsequent decrease in product performance.
Material Handling
Exilva is a very robust material that can withstand shear forces, pH variations, and temperature variations very well. Even though it shows good robustness, there are some important aspects to remember when handling the material.
Avoid placing it in freezing temperatures during temporary storage in production sequences as this may jeopardize the fibril network
Avoid too long piping distances from pumps, as the viscosity build up will take place after the shear is removed
Make sure to follow Borregaard's guidelines on dispersion time and shear rates when incorporating the material
If you want more detailed information on material handling, you can now download our bulletin.
Resources
Get an animated introduction to Exilva, through this educational 3D video.
Download our bulletin "What is Exilva" to better understand the product.
Dosing of Exilva is highly dependent on the product and system you enter it into In addition, you need to think through what functionality from the fibrils you are looking for. Our experience is that you should start with 5% dosage of our V-products, and 25% of our L-products.
Oil-in-water emulsions may need higher dosages, for the physical network to be able to stabilize the O/W emulsion.
For barrier air and gas barrier properties, Exilva can be extremely efficient. Our experience is that you will find abilities to improve your barriers at dosages of 1-5 g/m2.
To give you very rough estimations on dosages for your system, please download our dosage guide. But please remember that these indications are high level and rough, so please contact us if you are interested in testing Exilva so that we can guide you based on your defined system and our experience.
