AkzoNobel hosts adjuvants, surfactants seminar in Stockholm, Sweden

In the spirit of creativity encouraged by the Nobel Museum, the AkzoNobel company brought together 31 agro chemists from ten countries throughout Europe to explore new products and technologies in agrochemicals.

Organized around the theme of innovation, the AkzoNobel Agrochemical Formulation Seminar held during June in Stockholm, Sweden: 1) showed customers how to use the company’s emulsifiers, dispersants, adjuvants and wetters to enhance their agrochemical formulations and 2) showcased new products and technologies for agrochemical formulations.

AkzoNobel is collaborating with Imperial College, London, on solvent interactions and with Malmö University, Sweden, on adjuvant properties of solvents.

After reviewing the foundations of agrochemical formulation and the role of surfactants and polymers as adjuvants in suspension technologies and in dry formulations, AkzoNobel presenters introduced new products and technologies developed to address the major challenges facing crop protection:

• Adsee DR22 adjuvant for reducing spray drift. A liquid based on cellulose polymer, Adsee DR22 improves delivery and retention of the crop protection chemical on the plant by changing the rheology properties of the spray solution. In fact, testing showed Adsee DR22 decreased the percentage of small and large droplets, reducing drift issues and improving retention. Adsee DR22 also increases rainfastness, and has good moisture pick-up properties. Easy to use, Adsee DR22 works with most common formulation types and fertilizers. 

• Armid FMPC solvent for formulators. By understanding molecular polarity and measuring interactions between molecules, AkzoNobel and university scientists developed this new sustainable solvent as an alternative to the banned N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). A water-soluble solvent, Armid FMPC is an optimized blend for highly efficient soluble liquids (SLs) as well as co solvent in emulsifiable concentrates (ECs) of imidacloprid and other active ingredients such as dicamba, 2,4-D, triazoles and trifloxystrobin. Armid FMPC solvent has an excellent ecotoxicity and human health profile, is readily biodegradable and is a powerful solubilizer, preventing crystallization even at low temperatures

• New technology of solid adjuvants for dry formulations and more. At the seminar, AkzoNobel scientists described how they used starch as a carrier for transforming liquid surfactants into dry form. The AkzoNobel presenters described how starch in powder form can absorb 50 percent to 70 percent of the liquid surfactant or oil, with up to 75 percent loading possible, while remaining a free-flowing powder. The finished adjuvant, the starch-encapsulated surfactant, dissolves well in water. In addition, AkzoNobel experts detailed the performance of new phosphate esters for high-electrolyte systems; the company’s Amadol product range of dispersants and wetting agents for SC and EC formulations; and new approaches for developing dispersants, wetting agents and film-forming additives for seed coating formulations.