Novomer announces first commercial adoption of Converge^® polyols for polyurethane adhesives

WALTHAM, Mass., October 27, 2014 – Novomer Inc., a sustainable materials company pioneering a family of high-performance polymers and other chemicals from renewable feedstocks such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), has announced that Jowat AG, a leading supplier of industrial adhesives headquartered in Germany, is the first to commercially adopt Novomer’s new Converge^® polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyols for use in polyurethane hot melt adhesive applications.

“The adoption by Jowat is a significant milestone in the commercial development of our breakthrough technology and we anticipate similar success in the near future with other customers in CASE (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants, and Elastomers) applications,” said Peter Shepard, Chief Business Officer for Novomer Inc. “Jowat is an innovative company and the incorporation of Converge^® polyols into their formulation helped them improve the performance of key attributes of one of their reactive hot melt products.”

Jowat was able to leverage the technical advantages of Novomer’s Converge^® polyols to develop a new formulation, said Klaus Kullmann Managing Director Sales and Marketing for Jowat AG. “Our new adhesive formulation enabled our customer to improve the hydrolytic stability of their product without compromising other critical aspects,” said Kullmann. “Converge^® polyols are unique materials and will help differentiate many more of our adhesive products in the future.”

Converge^® polyols are designed to replace conventional petroleum-based polyether, polyester, and polycarbonate polyols. They are based on the co-polymerization of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and epoxides and the resulting products contain more than 40% by weight CO₂. The use of CO₂ as a significant raw material yields a product with an extremely low carbon footprint. In addition, since CO₂ is significantly lower in cost than conventional petroleum-based raw materials, Converge^® polyol will continue to be a more sustainable raw material in the future.

In terms of performance, Novomer’s Converge^® polyols have a unique polycarbonate backbone which increases the strength and durability of polyurethane products. Incorporating these new polyols into existing formulations yields foams with higher tensile and tear strength, and increased load bearing capacity, adhesives and coatings with improved adhesion, cohesive strength, and weatherability, and elastomers with greater tensile and flexural strength.

The new Converge^® polyols are available globally. The company’s initial product offerings – 1000 and 2000 molecular weight grades – are manufactured at a multi-thousand-ton commercial-scale toll facility in Houston, Texas. Novomer continues to work closely with several major companies on new applications for various segments of the polyurethanes industry.

? About Jowat AG

Jowat AG headquartered in Detmold, Germany, is one of the leading suppliers of industrial adhesives. These are mainly used in the woodworking and furniture manufacture, in the paper and packaging industry, for graphic arts, in the textile, automotive, as well as in the electrical industry. The company was founded in 1919 and has manufacturing sites in Germany in Detmold and Elsteraue, plus four other producing subsidiaries, Jowat Corporation in the USA, Jowat Swiss AG, Jowat Manufacturing in Malaysia, and the Jowat Universal Adhesives Australia Pty. Ltd. in Australia. The supplier of all adhesive groups is manufacturing over 73,000 tons of adhesives per year, with around 900 employees. A global sales structure with 19 Jowat sales organisations plus partner companies is guaranteeing local service with close customer contact.

About Novomer Inc.

Novomer (www.novomer.com) is a leading materials company commercializing a family of low-cost, high-performance, sustainable polymers and other chemicals. Novomer’s groundbreaking catalyst technology allows carbon dioxide and other renewable feedstocks to be cost-effectively transformed into chemical products for a wide variety of industrial markets.

Source: Novomer Inc., press release, 2014-10-27.