New Lupranol® products help original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) meet stringent government regulations and industry standards
Reduce formaldehyde emissions by 5% to 10%; reduce acetaldehyde and acrolein emissions by 30% to 40%
Shanghai, China — February 7, 2017 — BASF launches new polyether polyol products to reduce volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions and effectively improve air quality in cars. The new product is part of the Lupranol® brand, which is used in the production of components for automotive applications such as high resilience flexible foams and semi-rigid polyurethane foams. This low VOC grade polyol has been shown to significantly reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds, especially aldehydes. Lupranol is a sustainable alternative when producing polyurethane foam for automotive interiors such as seats, roofs and steering wheels.
"Automotive OEMs in Asia, especially China and South Korea, are always looking for solutions to improve the air quality in their vehicles. This new product will help them meet increasingly stringent volatile organic compound emission standards." Andy Postlethwaite, Global Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific, said: "By changing production processes, BASF has effectively reduced emissions of volatile organic compounds and played a key role in improving environmental sustainability and health."
Lupranol's lower emissions of volatile organic compounds benefit from improvements in material production processes. Among the polyurethane solutions for automotive applications currently on the market, its aldehyde emissions—especially formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein—have reached the lowest levels. As tested by China Testing and Certification Group, a leading testing agency in China, the formaldehyde emissions of the new Lupranol have been reduced by 5% to 10%, and the emissions of acetaldehyde and acrolein have been reduced by 30% to 40%, respectively.
Lupranol can produce high-resilience polyurethane foams such as Elastoflex®, and its excellent physical properties are well-suited for various automotive applications. Compared with traditional foam materials, Elastoflex has better comfort, resilience and bearing capacity.
About BASF Performance Materials
The Performance Materials business unit integrates all of BASF's expertise in innovative custom plastics and is active globally in four areas: transportation, construction, industrial applications and consumer products. This business unit has a comprehensive product and service portfolio and has an in-depth understanding of application-oriented system solutions. We work closely with our customers and focus on solutions to drive profitable growth and business development. Strong R & D capabilities have laid a solid foundation for the development of innovative products and applications. Global sales of the Performance Materials business reached EUR 6.7 billion in 2015.