Recently Dutch sustainable chemicals company Relement raised €1 million in a seed round to expand its startup product bio MPA. the investment will also be used for pre-commercial trials with selected leading coating resin customers.
Relement, a subsidiary of the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), will provide sustainable chemistry for coatings, adhesives, insulation, lubricants and other everyday products. These ingredients will be made from locally sourced agricultural non-food residues, not petroleum.
Bio MPA is a unique bio-based chemical composition. It provides the missing link for the manufacture of bio-based alkyd resin coatings. External studies have shown that bio-MPA can reduce the CO2 footprint by 3.1kg CO2 eq /kg bio-MPA compared to fossil equivalents.
In addition, bio-MPA will improve key properties of paints and coatings, and customer validation of bio-MPA has shown improved performance of coatings, such as.
Due to the lower viscosity, the spreadability of the film is easier to reduce the yellowing effect due to UV exposure improving hardness and film properties.
Previously, Relement completed its first sample production campaign, producing >25 kg MPA of bio-aromatic 3-methylphthalic anhydride (bio-MPA) at >99.5% purity, using Biorizon's facilities at the Green Chemistry Park in the Netherlands.
Chief Technology Officer Stefano Iannacone said he was pleased with the initial production run with the assistance of TNO, while allowing the technology to be transferred from TNO to the spin-off company Relement.
"It is exciting to learn about Diels-Alder chemistry and the details of the process to produce bioaromatic MPA, and the best way to do that is to perform the actual process yourself. I noticed that TNO put a lot of effort into designing the chemistry and turning it into a viable process at the kilogram level, and now I am enthusiastic about scaling up and improving the process to a new level."
Relement will soon begin expanding the program and working with leading chemical manufacturing partners on the next phase: a larger scale demonstration. By the summer of 2022, a process manual will be ready to allow for the subsequent start of contract manufacturing of bioaromatic MPAs on a ton scale.
Nieuwe aliBio-Aromatic 3-Methylphthalic Anhydride (bio-MPA) is the first bio-aromatic Relement to be launched in the market using its versatile platform technology. The composition can only be made from inedible biomass residues and can be used in applications such as coatings, specialty polymers, adhesives and material resins.
"We will change the future of the coatings industry, enabling us to take a big step toward a more sustainable planet now and in the future. All elements are important. That's Relement's mission." Relement said.
