Milliken & Company plans to showcase a broad range of colorants and stabilizer technologies that are all designed to enhance polyurethane (PU) products when it exhibits at UTECH Europe 2021 (Booth #B20) in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from Nov. 16-18.
One key focus of Milliken’s presence will be its Reactint® Color Studio, a valuable, web-based resource for PU foam producers and users.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity to meeting customers and industry attendees at the UTECH show,” said Jesse Shoultz, Global Market Manager. “We have been working for decades to help polyurethane producers and brand owners to improve the aesthetics and performance of their end products. We’re leveraging this expertise and market understanding to provide the support and solutions desired by our customers today to help them meet their most challenging technical requirements.”
A rainbow of colors
Milliken’s Reactint colorants for polyurethane are reactive polymeric colorants that consist of chromophores that are chemically bound to polyols. This allows the Reactint colorant to react into the polyurethane polymer matrix.
Used in flexible, rigid and CASE polyurethane applications, Reactint colorants help you to deliver the wide color space and deep shades your customers need to differentiate their products. With just five primary Reactint colors, PU manufacturers worldwide can offer virtually any color to their customers. This helps brand owners to differentiate their products and to build a strong brand identity.
To this end, Milliken also has developed the previously mentioned Reactint Color Studio. This web application allows you to find a Reactint formulation for any given Pantone number and to match any shade in a photo or from a color wheel. The result is that it helps users to build their own, custom mattress with the click of a mouse.
Protecting against oxidation
Milliken’s Milliguard® AOX antioxidant for PU is a fully reactive, polymeric, carbon-centered radical scavenger that protects thermoset polymers from oxidation degradation. Compatible with both polyether and polyester polyols, it is effective at low levels in polyurethane formulations to prevent scorch and in polyol manufacturing to improve stability.
This polymeric additive helps producers to meet high environmental and air quality targets by reducing VOCs and FOG emissions. Milliguard AOX also reduces color formation after the PU is exposed to NOx fumes or UV light, or both.
Absorbing the light
Milliguard UVX products, meanwhile, are designed to absorb the full spectrum of ultraviolet light, which can damage or degrade products over time. These Milliken additives offer the unique combination of complete non-extraction, and minimal volatile organic compound (VOC) generation, as well as the full-spectrum UV absorption. These absorbers are reactive in nature and do not migrate. Milliguard UVX is widely used in automotive and textile applications where UV stability is an important performance requirement.
Global support and test capabilities
Herbert De Breuck, Global Polyurethane Technical Lead, is proud of the expert technical support Milliken provides to its customers: “Supported by our fully-equipped PU laboratories around the world, we offer unparalleled experience and a host of technical capabilities in the PU industry. For colorants, this includes fast and efficient color matching, support for color delivery systems and a wide range of analytical capabilities.”
Don’t miss the opportunity to stop by Milliken’s booth (#B20) at UTECH to learn more about how these colorants and additives can add significant value to your polyurethane products, in a variety of ways.
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