The Exilva Blog

There is a strong need to disinfect and sanitize frequently touched surfaces. Exilva Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) is a biobased structuring agent that can thicken household disinfectant and cleaning products at low to high pH, as well as with oxidizing compounds.

Hydroalcoholic hand sanitizers are the best option to keep up your hand hygiene when soap and water are not accessible. They are one of the most used and needed products these days. If you are considering formulating a hand sanitizer, read about how you can use Exilva Microfibrillated Cellulose, a biobased material, to structure and thicken your formulations as well as provide a non-tacky feel.

Starch is a natural polymer found in many processes either as an adhesive or a thickener. Following paper production, corrugated board is the second largest application of non-food starches globally, where it it used as an adhesive between the fluting and liners. The control of the adhesive viscosity during process and storage is critical. However, despite further developments regarding the formulation of starch adhesives, the viscosity is commonly not stable enough over extended periods of time, in particular over weekend storage. In this first of a series of blog posts with the corrugated boards application as the example, I will give an introduction to this problem, and the new technology of Exilva, a microfibrillated cellulose, to solve it.

Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) has a good film-forming ability, where the film is strong and light. In addition, the films are opaque, translucent or even transparent depending on the thickness of the film and type of MFC. They also show good oxygen barrier properties. Moreover, MFC can be combined with different polymers or fillers to obtain even more versatile material. In this post, we want to show the potential of MFC films in various applications. Let’s start by discussing how MFC films can be made and then see what kind of applications these films may have.

Hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) and Exilva microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) can both be used as rheology modifiers in a variety of industries to prevent sedimentation and settling. In this article, I review the ability of the materials to give a yield stress in a waterbased system and, because of that, provide anti-settling and anti-sedimentation behavior. Tune-in on a comparison between these two rheology additives.

Undesirable phenomena such as sedimentation and settling can often occur during the storage of paints. Therefore, a re-dispersion step is necessary which can mean additional cost. These challenges can be even more pronounced in high solid content formulations and so it is crucial to secure stability of those systems. To avoid these effects, rheology modifiers need to be added to paint formulations. So, I prepared some information for you and conducted a couple of tests with the rheology additive nanocellulose to show you how focus on yield stress will reduce sedimentation and settling.

Paint manufacturers have been formulating paints containing microspheres in many years. Formulators can use microspheres to increase the solid content of a coating while maintaining the proper application and flow characteristics. Higher solids can reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), shrinkage and drying time. But there can be problems with settling and sedimentation, as well as floating of the microspheres. In addition, cost of certain types of microspheres can be high.

The pursue for a more efficient and increasingly EHS improved way of incorporating microfibrillated cellulose into polymers for polymer melts (thermoplastics) has been going on for years. Thermoplastics are an important source for many final products and applications. By introducing microfibrillated cellulose into polymers by the means of liquid suspension, Gneuss have been able to avoid the agglomeration of powder form similar particles, as well as improve the EHS profile of such a process.

Modified polyurea and Exilva Microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) can both be used as rheology modifier in a variety of industries to prevent sedimentation and settling. In this article, I review the ability of the materials to give a yield stress in a waterbased system and, because of that, provide anti-settling & anti-sedimentation behavior. Tune-in on a comparison between these two rheology additives.