Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc., a high-growth specialty chemicals company, announced today the commercial availability of Inherent C18 Diacid — a mid-chain length, bio-based diacid — that enables producers of polyamides and polyurethanes, lubricants and adhesives to significantly expand their portfolios with cost-competitive products that demonstrate performance not possible from products made with more common, shorter-chain diacids.
Elevance’s unique, efficient process to produce C18 diacid, also known as octadecanedioic acid or ODDA, uses materials produced from its world-scale biorefinery in Gresik, Indonesia — the first based on Elevance’s proprietary metathesis technology. The process allows Elevance to make Inherent C18 Diacid with the purity required for demanding applications like polymers at a cost that is competitive with other specialty diacids in the marketplace.
“Elevance’s proprietary technology and novel specialty chemicals enable our partners to create new and expanded product lines to grow their businesses,” said Elevance CEO K’Lynne Johnson. “Inherent C18 Diacid is the most recent addition to our growing line of bio-based commercial solutions that can provide our customers with high-performance products for their markets. These solutions make it possible for engineering polymers, used in durable goods, to be made from a broad number of renewable feedstocks. Our engineering polymer customers can now add bio-based products with enhanced performance to their portfolios, expanding their supply chains while achieving their business and sustainability goals.”
As a diacid, or if converted to diamine, a C18 diacid enables the creation of more than a dozen new base polymers that can result in more than a hundred new compounds or formulations. For example, Inherent C18 Diacid will allow polyamides to enter new automotive and electronic applications that demand better hydrolytic performance, improved optical properties and greater material toughness or flexibility.
Using Inherent C18 Diacid in polyester polyols enables the creation of new, previously unattainable pre-polymers, helping polyurethane manufacturers create polymers with exceptional solvent resistance, hydrolytic stability, optical clarity and toughness that will benefit automotive, food service, medical and other markets.