X-PLAIN
Chemical products: Part of our everyday life, part of our future
Chemical products from LANXESS can be found in everyday life: in cars, buildings, households, electronics and leisure products. Our strategy is to focus on products that reflect smart sustainability policies. Because these have a future, and contribute to better achieving our own climate targets.
In the X-PLAIN section, we provide information about our products, how they work and how they are used, as well as product innovations.
We focus on products that protect consumers
Part of our company’s history has been to manufacture products almost exclusively for industry - the chemical and other sectors. This focus is changing. For a number of years, we have been increasingly focusing on products that protect consumers, for example through our biosafety business. The Corona pandemic proved how important it was to invest here. But not only that. Our active ingredient OxoneTM monopersulfate is contained in the Virkon™ and Rely+On™ disinfection products. These products are also effective against other influenza viruses as well as animal diseases such as African swine fever and avian flu.
Oxone™ monopersulfate is a powerful and fast-acting oxidizer used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, electronics, pulp, and pool and spa.
Disinfection is a classic application example: the active ingredient Oxone™ is used as a raw material for disinfectants for farms and for surface disinfection in hospitals, among other applications, to combat disease-causing microorganisms. Denture cleaning is also an important application. This is because Oxone™ reduces many types of stains, disease- and odor-causing bacteria.
- Oxone™ is used in the cleaning of pool water. In this way, the use of chlorine can be reduced.
- In the electronics industry, it is used for surface preparation in the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
- Paper manufacturers use the product to break down wet strength agents (additives that give wet paper strength) during paper reprocessing.
- In addition, OxoneTM is an essential ingredient in denture cleaners.
- Demand is growing partly because regulations are becoming stricter. Customers also increasingly prefer chlorine-free product solutions.
Demand is growing partly because regulations are becoming stricter. Customers also increasingly prefer chlorine-free product solutions.
Materials and components that make things happen
Engineering Materials, these are the engineering plastics and polyurethanes from LANXESS. Polyurethanes are plastics or synthetic resins that are formed from reactions with other compounds, for example alcohols. Our High Performance Materials business unit produces engineering plastics for the automotive, electrical and electronics, furniture and construction industries. For example: the tailor-made polyamides Durethan® and polyester Pocan® are very suitable for lithium-ion battery components, electric vehicle drive systems and charging infrastructure. Possible applications include battery covers, high-voltage connectors, housing parts for control units and lines for cooling fluids.
The Urethane Systems business unit is a leader in the production of polyurethane systems. LANXESS is the inventor and first commercial supplier of prepolymers (precursors of polymers: Substances built up from similar, long-chain molecules - such as plastics) with less than 0.1 percent free diisocyanate. Isocyanates are basic building blocks of polyurethane chemistry and are potentially hazardous to health during processing. Our low-free polyurethane prepolymers are classified in lower risk classes and are classified as non-toxic. This results in significantly improved occupational safety in the manufacture of innovative polyurethane components such as wheels and rollers.
They make the difference
Additives are chemicals that are added to products in small quantities to achieve or improve certain properties. For example, they can make materials more elastic and easier to handle. They are used for preservation, suppleness, hardening or flame retardancy.
Three examples of additives from LANXESS:
- Flame retardants for plastics that make cable sheathing and connectors safer, among other things. The largest area of application is the construction industry.
- Additives for lubricants, which in turn ensure the smooth functioning of engines and machines. The additives make the lubricants flame retardant and just the right viscosity, for example.
- Plasticizers, for example Mesamoll: This plasticizer is used in waterbeds and inflatables, among other things. Mesamoll gels well and can therefore be processed at lower temperatures and in less time than other plasticizers. It is also free of the harmful phthalates.
Products that provide clean water
Because the amount of water on this planet cannot be increased, we are investing in a little-used source: the treatment of industrial water. Our Liquid Purification Technologies business unit is currently focusing on these main technologies:
- Lewatit® Ion exchangers: tiny polymer beads that remove unwanted substances from water, for example lime, salt or acids. Ion exchangers are enormously versatile. They help treat wastewater from metal extraction. And they are found in water softeners for dishwashers and washing machines. Special Lewatit® products also help to produce high-purity water for the microelectronics industry, for example. Furthermore, ion exchange resins are an indispensable component in the food and beverage industry. There, the large-scale production of crystal and liquid sugar would hardly be economically feasible without special Lewatit® grades. Ion exchangers are also used for the fine purification of nickel and cobalt concentrates for the production of high-purity cobalt and nickel. These metals are in turn components of active materials for cell cathodes of lithium-ion batteries. Last but not least, Lewatit® ion exchange resins and adsorbers are widely used in the pharmaceutical and bioprocess industries.
- Bayoxide® Iron oxide adsorbers: Adsorbers ensure that atoms or molecules from liquids attach to solid surfaces. Bayoxide® E adsorbers are based on an α-iron oxide hydroxide that binds impurities. The core of the Bayoxide system is a fixed bed of iron oxide granules. The granules have finely structured surfaces that adsorb the contaminants when polluted water flows through them. In this way, arsenic can be removed from drinking water and wastewater. Similarly, phosphate can be adsorbed from ponds or mining and process water can be purified.
Chemical products that we manufacture for industry continue to form an important business unit of LANXESS. Important products include:
- Bayferrox® Iron oxide pigments that color concrete and asphalt, for example - eliminating the need for painting.
- Saltidin®, an active ingredient in insect repellents. It affects insects' sense of smell so that they are no longer attracted to humans.
