LANXESS at ECS 2025: High-quality products for the paint and coatings industry

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS will be presenting its extensive product portfolio for the manufacture of high-quality paints, varnishes and coatings at the European Coatings Show 2025 in Nuremberg. This includes coating raw materials, organic and inorganic color pigments, biocides, environmentally friendly colorants and plasticizers, as well as coalescents, flame retardants, additives, preservatives and solvents. LANXESS offers high-performance, sustainable solutions for the paints and coatings industry that ensure both maximum efficiency and sustainability, helping customers to meet regulatory requirements and optimize operational standards.

Hygiene management in industrial plants: the CDP concept

In today’s industrial landscape, effective disinfection is of crucial importance. LANXESS has developed the “Control – Detect – Prevent” (CDP) concept as a strategic approach to modern hygiene in industrial plants. It aims to control microbiological risks, detect them at an early stage and take preventive measures.

Preventol OX for high-performance, chlorine-free disinfection

As an integral part of the CDP concept, LANXESS presents Preventol OX, a powerful, chlorine-free disinfection and oxidation product for a wide range of industrial applications. Preventol OX offers highly effective control of microorganisms. The product can be used for the disinfection of production water, recycled water and equipment as well as for the oxidative removal of organic deposits. Thanks to its variability and fast action, it is suitable for a variety of operational environments and ensures hygiene and safety in a wide range of processes.

Preventol OX is used as granules, is easy to handle, has a wide range of applications and offers excellent performance. The product is also a suitable alternative for cases where the highly regulated biocide DBNPA (dibromonitrile propionamide) was previously used in disinfection. With Preventol OX customers can significantly raise their standards in terms of cleanliness and operational efficiency.

Klarix XIT for clean paint and varnish production

With Klarix XIT, LANXESS presents a new non-biocidal additive for paints and coatings, adhesives, emulsions and other water-based industrial products. The product allows the use of the biocidal active ingredient CIT/MIT during production and then to remove these again completely or partially after they have taken effect. By adding Klarix XIT, CIT (chloromethylisothiazolinone) and MIT (methylisothiazolinone) are broken down within a short time – no CIT and MIT residues are left in the final application. This enables Klarix XIT to produce biocide-free or low-biocide end products.

Klarix XIT is based on harmless components that react with CMIT and MIT. Klarix XIT is supplied as a colorless, almost clear liquid. It can be used undiluted and is easily soluble in water, making it easy and flexible to use.

Yellow iron oxide pigments with a significantly smaller CO₂ footprint

LANXESS also offers a particularly sustainable variant of its Bayferrox iron oxide yellow pigments, which are ideal for high-quality formulations such as pigment pastes and highly pigmented facade paints. These pigments, which are marketed under the company’s own Scopeblue label, have a Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) that is around 35 percent lower compared to regular Bayferrox product types as a result of the use of more eco-efficient raw materials.

Under the brand label Scopeblue, LANXESS identifies its own products whose CO₂ footprint is at least 50 percent lower than that of conventional products or which consist of at least 50 percent sustainable raw materials. This is due to the growing awareness in the paints and coatings industry of the PCF of raw materials and the associated demand for sustainably produced pigments. LANXESS is responding to this with the gradual introduction of further Scopeblue products.

Sustainable production, uncompromising quality

The new Scopeblue product line includes the micronized iron oxide yellow pigments Bayferrox 3910, 3910 LV and 3920. All product types can be easily used in existing paint systems. They have the same chemical composition, color and functional properties as conventionally manufactured Bayferrox pigments.

Colorants, plasticizers, coalescents and flame retardants

The Polymer Additives business unit (PLA) offers water-based pigment dispersions called Levanyl (organic) and Levanox (inorganic) in its wide range of high-quality colorants. They are free of binding agents and are characterized by high color strength and low viscosity. The pigment dispersions can be used in decorative paints, inks, paper, synthetic leather, wood preservatives and numerous other applications.

In addition to colorants, PLA offers a wide variety of other additives: The plasticizer Mesamoll is especially suitable for flexible sealants and adhesives that require a long-term stability, particularly in contact with concrete and moisture. The K-FLEX coalescent improves essential properties of paints and coatings such as abrasion resistance, gloss, and scrub resistance. K-FLEX is also used as a standard plasticizer in waterborne and hot-melt adhesives. Both Mesamoll and the K-FLEX products are alternatives to phthalate plasticizers.

The phosphorus-based additives of the Disflamoll brand provide effective flame retardance. They are colorless and are used in both solvent-based and aqueous dispersions, do not affect the color of the end products and are also suitable for transparent applications. Disflamoll products are used in CAS (coatings, adhesives, sealants) applications to meet the regulatory fire protection requirements.

Benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and benzaldehyde also available in sustainable variants

High-quality basic chemicals are essential for the production of paints and varnishes. These include, for example, benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and benzaldehyde, which LANXESS also offers in carbon-reduced variants. In this way, LANXESS enables its customers to achieve their sustainability targets.

Benzyl alcohol is used as a precursor or intermediate for a variety of chemical products, especially in the coatings industry. The chemical enhances performance in many applications. For example, it is used as a non-reactive diluent in epoxy resin coatings, where it reduces viscosity and raises product flexibility. In coatings and lacquers, benzyl alcohol is valued as a solvent or co-solvent due to its low volatility and low toxicity. In paint stripper formulations, it serves as an environmentally friendly substitute for methylene chloride, also known as dichloromethane/DCM or dimethyl chloride. The colorless liquid has a pleasant, mild aroma. LANXESS offers benzyl alcohol as a high-quality product with outstanding properties for further processing.

LANXESS supplies benzoic acid in various degrees of purity under the trade name Purox B. All forms of Purox B are easy to handle, virtually odorless and have a low tendency to agglutinate. In the production of alkyd resins, for example, benzoic acid is used to control viscosity and improve the properties of the alkyd coating such as gloss, adhesion, hardness, and chemical resistance. Additionally, even at low concentrations, it effectively protects against corrosion and flash rust.

Benzaldehyde is a valuable aromatic aldehyde for industrial applications. It is frequently used as a non-reactive diluent in epoxy resin coatings to reduce viscosity and enhance product flexibility.

With production sites around the world, the LANXESS Flavors & Fragrances (F&F) business unit supplies key ingredients such as benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and benzaldehyde. These products enhance the performance of coatings, increasing viscosity, flexibility, gloss, adhesion and chemical resistance. With a strong commitment to sustainability, F&F has ISCC PLUS certified sites that produce alternative products based on green electricity and biomass.

Detailed information on LANXESS products for the paints and coatings industry is available at https://lanxess.com/en/products-and-brands/industries/paints-and-coatings.