Shin-Etsu Chemical Has Developed a New Silicone Emulsion

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo; President, Yasuhiko Saitoh) has developed a new improved type of silicone emulsions.

In the latest list concerning the EU’s REACH Regulations* some actions are being proposed to reduce the concentration of specific siloxanes contained in some applications of silicone products to less than 0.1 %. The specific type of siloxanes concerned are not the kind that raise any issues regarding human health and the environment. Nevertheless, in order to meet the requests of our customers and in consideration of the trend in REACH regulations, Shin-Etsu has developed new silicone emulsion products.

The new silicone emulsions that were developed with a high level of purification technology lower the concentration of specific siloxanes to comply with the trend in REACH regulations. At the same time, compared to existing products, the stability of our silicone emulsions has also been improved.

Silicone emulsions are products that make it easy to mix together silicone and water with other materials by adding an emulsifying agent (surfactant) to such materials as silicone fluids and silicone resins and dispersing it in water. Because of the superior characteristics that silicones have and the emulsions’ ease of use, silicone emulsions are used in a wide range of applications such as release agents, lubricants and gloss enhancers.

Taking advantage of Shin-Etsu Chemical’s superior product quality and technological strengths as well as our system for detailed response to our customers’ requests, going forward Shin-Etsu will continue to strive to meet the needs of the diversifying market.

*REACH, which stands for the four processes of Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals, is a process of regulation set up by the European Union that was adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment.