18 Oct Innovation from Kumyang: Evolved, Expandable Microspheres

Kumyang is a major player in the market for Blowing agents and is expanding its product portfolio with heat-expandable microspheres. The most significant aspect here is the combination of quality and environmental sustainability.

One year ago, the Korean company, Kumyang, opened an office in Germany, in order to introduce its environmentally friendly propellants and additives in Europe. A new product is now being introduced: evolved, heat-expandable microspheres, which are particularly light and dispense with the combination of formamide and ammonia.This is achieved by using azodicarbonamide (ADC), a Blowing agents for the expansion of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) as well as natural and synthetic rubber.

The ambitious goal of Kumyang is to win over market leaders in a variety of industries with a compelling mix, namely superior technology combined with very low cost and high performance. Four advantages make the company interesting for European customers: A customer-driven research and development department offers technical developments that meet customer needs. New process developments will also reduce costs. Kumyang guarantees optimum technical service for foam-forming propellants. Based on the claim think global act local, the company offers a global service in terms of communication and logistics.

In Kumyang’s R&D department, 23 highly skilled professionals worked to establish processes for the production of environmentally friendly heat-expandable microspheres and ADC products. The whole process consists of synthesis technology, setup of manufacturing processes, surface treatment technology and application.

In a pilot project, the requirements for the production reactors were determined in the laboratory. The chemical process looks like this: A suspension which undergoes polymerisation is formed by mixing a water phase and an oil phase. After washing, filtering and drying, the heat-expandable microspheres are formed.

Kumyang has developed a comprehensive analytical process by subjecting the manufactured expandable microspheres to a 12-step test procedure. For example, they are scanned, x-rayed, weighed and measured. Only the highest quality survives this test procedure.

Kumyang has developed various core technologies in its sector. The expandable microspheres have been registered for nine patents and discussed in three scientific publications.

Expandable microspheres are used in the manufacture of a wide variety of products,such as automotive, wine corks, footwear, wallpaper, flooring, and paints.