Jul 14 2006
In the presence of Yves Chauvin, Nobel prize-winner in Chemistry 2005, and the Minister Delegate for Industry, François Loos, Rohm and Haas was honoured for it’s innovative technology in AvanseTM, a new acrylic polymer platform.
During an industry ceremony in Paris, the prestigious “Prix Pierre Potier” medal was presented to Dr. Marie Bleuzen, head of Decorative Paints laboratory of Rohm and Haas, who developed this innovative new acrylic technology with her team and with the research laboratories in Spring House, NAR. Eight other companies were also honoured for their innovations and the Minister congratulated them all for the quality and the diversity of their innovations.
The development of Avanse™ demonstrates the commitment Rohm and Haas has to innovation in the industry, to continual improvement in reducing impact on the environment, and to offering new technologies to benefit our customers and the industry.
This breakthrough in acrylic binder technology enables more efficient interaction between the different paint ingredients, impacting positively on the performance-cost equation for formulators. Avanse™ pure acrylic technology delivers superior hiding, better scrub resistance and enhanced whiteness, as well as excellent stain resistance, barrier properties (e.g., efflorescence resistance, stain blocking, corrosion resistance) and improved adhesion to metal and other substrates. It is also a technology that will have a major impact on both industrial and construction coating products.
Avanse™ demonstrates exceptional performance benefits – not only for the formulator by creating a new value option in the market place, but for the environment too. Reducing the amount of polymer and pigment benefits the environment – particularly reductions in pigment levels as there are large energy requirements associated with processing these materials. Alternatively, significant gains in scrub and opacity occur at conventional binder and TiO2 usage levels. This can also benefit the environment since fewer coats of paint may be required to achieve desired levels of hiding and/or the lifetime of the paint job may be extended. Enhanced distribution of TiO2 and extender pigments in the film also leads to significant improvements in stain-blocking, stain resistance, metal adhesion, and efflorescence resistance.
Avanse™ 412, one of the initial Avanse™ products to be launched commercially, effectively offers paint formulators increased flexibility in their approach to the performance-cost equation. They can choose to either get a wide range of performance improvements, with no increase in the total formulation cost, or, by using lower quantities of binder and pigment, optimize the formulation cost with no loss in performance. Because of the acrylic technology designed into Avanse™ 412, this resin can be formulated into high quality, low VOC, low odor interior wall paints and exterior coatings.
The decision to name the prize after Pierre Potier recalls the eminent role played by this biochemist in the discovery of innovative new medications derived from plants. This was the first time this scientific and technological award was presented to award and honour innovations with a positive effect on the environment from the French chemical industry.