New developments – the Lanxess leather business unit

Lanxess continues to innovate in the wet-end; not just individual products, but also entire systems that give complete solutions to the key challenges that tanners face today and in the future, keeping customers at the cutting edge of innovation and technology. The below examples represent the very latest generation of products that work together to give unique retanning system results.

Tanigan FT

A new generation syntan – the result of a new condensation process development that leads to superior product properties. There are no Lanxess products with the same performance profile.

Tanigan FT has elevated resistance to heat-ageing and lightfastness. So it is ideally suited to leathers where such properties are required, such as automotive.

Levotan X-Biomer RX li

Within the sustainability framework and green growth initiatives, Lanxess launched an entirely new class of patented retanning products – Levotan X-Biomer RX liq is the fourth and newest member of this range. Levotan X-Biomer products are not based on oil; formaldehyde is neither used as a raw material nor is it added. They are synthesised in a way that no significant neutral salts are generated and it produces zero VOC, together with superior biodegradability, low COD and a neutral smell. This makes Levotan X-Biomer RX liq ideal for high-performance leather such as automotive applications, along with its good buffing and embossing properties.

Levotan X-Biomer products are not comparable one to one with any existing retanning products, but are designed to improve leather quality and performance especially regarding the key performances like dyeability, tightness, fullness and selective filling, but with a more natural, less synthetic, yet improved leather feel.

If additional fullness is required, it can be applied in rechroming where not only fullness, but also tightness is boosted. Astringency is relatively low so that there are no drawn grain results and the yield is optimised. There is no precipitation at low pH-values, unlike traditional resin products based on melamine or DCD.

Lubritan Soft 8 Acrylic Retan

Lanxess’s alliance partner Dow has also developed and commercialised Lubritan Soft 8 Acrylic Retan. This product is a novel, easy-to-use lubricating acrylic polymer with a broad application profile suitable for furniture, automotive, footwear upper and split leather.

Driven by performance and the need for ecologically optimised products, Lanxess, together with Dow, offers a range of new products for finishing that help customers cope with today’s needs in terms of differentiation and sustainability.

Aquaderm

Aquaderm X-Shield HPS is a new fluorine-free anti-soiling additive based on silicone and a special acrylic polymer. The product is mainly used in anti-soiling acrylic top coats at ratios of 10–25%.

In combination with Aquaderm Additive GF, good to very good results can be achieved in terms of EMPA 104/128 and dye ingress anti-soiling tests.

Following the need for the reduction of VOC in leather finishes, Aquaderm XL DI 100 has been developed. Virtually VOC-free and with 100% solids, this new polyisocyanate cross-linking agent is suitable for high-performance finishes such as for automotive leather.

Aquaderm XL DI 100 is mainly used in top coats that are applied in so called ‘hot pot systems’; the same as with ‘2K – Inline Activation Devices’.

In combination with the right choice of acrylic and/or PUD binders, the product imparts physical properties that are comparable to other commonly used high-performance polyisocyanate cross-linking agents. In order to achieve comparable jetness and transparency, as with systems that still carry certain amounts of solvent or co-solvent, it is advisable to add small quantities of pigment (1–2%) to such ‘VOC-optimised’ top coats.