GALACTIC bio-solvents

GALACTIC bio-solvents

Tuesday, 15 November, 2016

A concern for the use of safer chemical products in industry is a growing trend. This change has been heralded as a result of more restrictive regulations being imposed and greater awareness among end clients when it comes to using products that are safer to handle.

Traditional solvents will gradually be replaced by alternatives that are safer, more sustainable and less harmful to the environment.

The company GALACTIC produces bio-solvents derived from lactic acid (lactic acid esters). They may be considered safe for a number of reasons: they can be stored in normal conditions and no specific measures need to be adopted to handle them.

As far as the environment is concerned, their carbon footprint is substantially lower than that of oil-based solvents. They are biodegradable solvents that are produced through the natural fermentation of sugar, a renewable source, meaning they are sustainable.

GALACTIC’s range of bio-solvents comprises lactic acid esters of varying molecular sizes. As lactic acid undergoes esterification by reacting alcohols with a greater molecular weight, an ester with a greater molecular weight is also obtained. As a result, the ester has a higher boiling point and lower polarity. This makes it worthwhile contemplating substituting conventional solvents for bio-solvents with similar features.

GALACTIC’s brands are GALASTER for individual esters and GALASOLV for varying ester blends. These bio-solvents are protic, polar and contain oxygenated functional groups. They have high boiling points, making them useful as an open time additive in solvent based coatings.

They are also used as coalescents in water based formulations.

As a VOC-free (volatile organic compound) product, it is worth highlighting 2-ethylhexyl lactate if used as a solvent.

For use as a VOC-free coalescent in a water-based formulation, it is worth considering Galasolv NV 300.

Many traditional solvents can be replaced with these environmentally friendly bio-solvents. They have a wide range of applications:

Coatings
Cosmetics
Industrial cleaning
Crop protection products

Moreover, the results obtained with these solvents are aligned to or exceed those of regular solvents and at a fair price.

In short, GALACTIC’s bio-solvents offer a safe, environmentally friendly alternative that does not compromise performance in production processes.

For further information about these products, please contact our Technical Advisory Team.

URL:

www.lactic.com

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