Specialty Acrylics

(now aligned with Coatings & Colorants: Coatings & Additives)

The Specialty Acrylics Business Unit specializes in the field of custom-made functional polymers based on methacrylates. The products of the business unit, which is subdivided into the Pharma Polymers, Oil Additives (Evonik RohMax) and Binders & Additives business lines, consistently occupy the first, second, and third positions on the global market. With a workforce of 876, production plants in five countries, and a global network of technical service centers and sales staff, the business unit generated sales of €540 million in fiscal 2006. Our work focuses on innovations and the continuous development of our production processes with regard to their efficiency, environmental compatibility, and resource conservation. In addition, the New Business Development unit develops new applications.

For more than 50 years, EUDRAGIT^® products and technologies from Pharma Polymers have been setting benchmarks for controlled drug release with functional tablet coatings. These contribute decisively toward improving the efficacy and tolerance of drugs. Pharma Polymers is now developing new drug delivery technologies for the targeted release of active ingredients in the digestive tract, thus opening up new therapeutic possibilities in, for example, chronic intestinal disorders.

VISCOPLEX^® brand of Evonik RohMax has also been synonymous for the last 60 years with highly developed additives for oils and refineries. For example, special viscosity index improvers and pour point depressants improve the flow properties of end products such as advanced gearbox and hydraulic oils over a wide temperature range. They reduce fuel consumption and therefore emissions, not to mention lower operating and maintenance costs. Evonik RohMax also markets Sulfolan, a highly polar solvent..

Specialty binders based on methacrylates are used for paints and coatings, food packaging, road markings, industrial flooring, and plastics additives, among many other applications. Research in Binders & Additives focuses on polymers e. g. for plastisol applications in automotive construction. In conjunction with leading automotive manufacturers, work is in progress on new formulations for PVC-free undersealing. For this growth market, a new spray-dried emulsion polymer based on PMMA is being produced and marketed under the DEGALAN^® brand name.

Supported by vast expertise in the field of structure-activity relationships of functional polymers, the New Business Development unit seeks new applications in new markets. Specialists work on projects with partners from the most diverse segments of industry such as agriculture, plastics processing, cosmetics, and construction materials. Using customized methacrylate-based polymers we cooperate to find the best solution for a broad range of applications.

We think polymer! For your success.