Additives

additives (lat. Additivum "added, included"), also known as adjuvants or additives are substances which are added to products in small amounts in order to achieve certain properties or to improve them.

Additives are used to achieve a positive effect on the production, storage, processing or product properties during and after use. Unlike fillers, additives have a very fine material (often dissolved) and usually only contribute a few percent to the total.

The additives include a typically broad and very diverse group of applications.

The selection criteria in addition to the price-performance ratio are the efficacy and mechanism of action.

When you apply additives you should always be looking for interactions that might happen. Because of such interactions negative properties might arise which should be improved by the additive in question.

Most additives are liquid or in solid form which makes their application very easy. They will be added after dispersion and stirred. Additives which are supposed to have an influence on the production process, such as defoamers as well as surface-active and disperging agents, must be applied before dispersion.

If you are going to apply several additives, you must add them one by one. Please make sure that there is a thorough mixing in order to preclude interactions.

Areas of application

  • processing agents such as dispersing agents, thickening agents and emulsifiers

  • binding agents such as hardeners (so-called co-hardeners for creating a specific characteristics profile), solvents (e.g. co-solvents in aqueous lacquers and diluents)

  • driers (siccatives) for synthetic materials, lacquers and natural resins

  • surface-active and disperging agents, lacquers and coating agents

  • antioxidants, lacquers and coating agents

  • desiccants and moisturizers

  • ingredients for building materials, concrete additives

  • plasticizers for synthetic materials

  • light stabilizers (UV absorbers and/or radical catchers) in synthetic materials and lacquers

  • levelling agents which make coating surfaces as smooth as possible

  • defoamers and air-release additives in coating agents

  • matting agents (mainly for lacquers)

  • raising agents for generating foam

  • anti-skinning agents

  • corrosion inhibitors, softeners and biocides in water cycles, the latter ones also in pigment preparations, water-based lacquers and emulsion paints

  • preservatives and antioxidants

  • nutritional additives and feed additives such as minerals, vitamins and dyestuffs

  • antistatic agents for laminate floors

  • flame retardants

  • adsorption agents

  • diluents are inexpensive additives which are added when expensive substances are indispensable in order to achieve the desired properties

Additives (cf. Latin additivum which means “to be added, attached”) which are also called auxiliary materials or excipients are substances of which small quantities are added to products in order to achieve or improve, certain properties.

Additives are applied in order to achieve a positive effect on the production, storage and processing or to achieve a desired product property during or after the use phase. Contrary to filling materials, additives are finely dispersed (often dissolved) and almost always account for only a few percentages of the total volume.

Additives comprise a typically diversified and very heterogeneous group of possible applications.

Do you have any questions about the product?

Your responsible contact person is always at your service for further questions.

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