Clariant’s Textile Business, the leading supplier of chemicals and dyes for the textile industry, took visitors to its Techtextil 2009 stand, on a voyage of discovery. The company launched new products that it says, give the technological and ecological edge to its technical textiles customers. Fast-moving sectors such as mobiltech, buildtech/hometech and medtech/ Indutech were the focus and customers benefited from solution-based and sector-specific offerings.

The new products build on Clariant’s broad portfolio and strong chemical expertise which provides customers with a head start in new product development. Clariant’s tailor-made approach to market trends and in-depth understanding of customer needs means faster product development and shorter time to market, The company says.

Highlights at Techtextil: 

Mobiltech

Appretan E4950 liquid - the latest addition to Clariant’s Appretan E Series of low emissive, ultra-low formaldehyde dispersions, developed in line with its commitment to provide ecologically-friendly solutions to the market. Appretan E4950 liq is a hard, anionic acrylate dispersion with ultra-low formaldehyde levels of < 16 ppm on the substrate according to Japan Law 112.

The polymer dispersion’s thermoset properties and its high hot tensile strength allow mechanical performance to be maintained even at elevated temperatures, which qualifies it as an environmentally friendly alternative to melamine or phenol resins commonly used in the industry. In addition, textiles treated with Appretan E4950 liq achieve good resistance to water, solvents and chemicals resulting in high-performance materials e.g. for moulding applications.

This combination of high performance and ultra-low formaldehyde levels is a novel achievement for this particular industry, Clariant says.

Buildtech/Hometech

With Sanitized + TH 27-24 liquid Clariant launches a new high concentrated multiple effect agent that keeps textiles permanently fresh. In combination with selected additives Sanitized TH 27-24 liq provides durable hygiene function and material protection against bacteria, odour, mildew and dust mites. It can be used for mattresses, bedding, carpets and for home textiles such as furniture, and wall coverings, but also for technical textiles used by the construction industry, or outdoor fabrics as awnings and garden furnishings.

Fabrics treated with Sanitized are dermatological safe. Sanitized complies with key EU and UK ecological standards for product safety including UK Allergy, Oeko-Tex Standard 100, classes I-IV, and bluesign.

Appretan E6870 liquid makes its debut at Techtextil as another ultra-low formaldehyde dispersion which offers excellent binding properties combined with excellent water and solvent/chemical resistance for nonwoven materials. Application examples include glass veils used in building panels in the construction sector.

Indutech/Medtech

Clariant’s state-of-the-art, new PFOA-free (below limit of detection) barrier function repellent for nonwovens – Nuva N2116 liquid belongs to a new generation of novel ecological, low emissive fluorocarbons with a cross-over of performance and cost saving benefits. Clariant says it is ideal for medical nonwoven which need to provide a high barrier profile, resistance to alcohol and solvents, as well as oil repellency. Other application fields with similar requirements are textiles for the transport sector, protective clothing or filtration.

Nuva N2116 liq with its fast curing profile even at low drying/curing conditions supports manufacturers’ efforts to reduce production costs and ensures it can be used with sensitive fibres such as polypropylene and on sensitive colours. Based on Clariant’s C6 technology that is officially classified as PFOS and PFOA free (below limit of detection), state of the art performance can be achieved while the ecological profile is improved.

In order to further underline its commitment to the EPA stewardship program, Clariant also presented additional elements in this range at Techtextil 2009.

The key industry issues of functionality, ecology and sustainability continued to be addressed by Clariant through its innovations on-show at Techtextil 2009. For example, Clariant’s Pekoflam product range which offers halogen-free solutions, featured alongside the recently launched finishing technologies coldblack* and NanoSphere*, developed with partner Schoeller Technologies AG. In addition to the garment sector, new applications for coldblack in the automotive and outdoor seat cover segments will be shown; while NanoSphere, with its self-cleaning properties, is set to conquer new markets in home textiles, commercial textiles, in luggage, the pet industry, harnesses and ribbons.

The use of green chemistry is a major part of Clariant’s on-going development and business activities and Techtextil visitors learned more about Clariant’s 4E Concept which formally embraces environmental, ecological, efficiency and economical considerations to offer customers a holistic approach along the whole production chain, from pre-treatment through dyeing to finishing. 4E balances care for the environment while maintaining high productivity and competitiveness and differentiation for customers.

“Clariant’s broad product portfolio, in-depth market knowledge built up over 135 years in the textile industry, and extensive experience of compatibilities and recipes means we can deliver the complete solution package of products, technical support and service; not just standalone products,” commented Thomas Winkler, Head of Clariant’s Textile Business.

“This puts us in a unique position to meet a customer need with tailored R&D. Add to this Clariant's harmonized quality and product safety standards, with our capacity to deliver worldwide, and it proves why Clariant is the partner of choice for helping technical textile customers to gain a competitive edge,” said Winkler.