Liquid Deicer
BASF is the sole manufacturer of formic acid in North America, which is the crucial product used to make potassium formate, an environmentally friendlier ingredient for walkway and driveway deicing. As a result, ice melt distributor SynaTek Solutions collaborated with BASF to make a smarter solution for deicing, in liquid form, called Entry. Using potassium formate derived from BASF’s organic acid, Entry breaks down hydrogen bonds formed when water freezes. What’s innovative about this product is that potassium formate removes thin layers of ice and prevents new snow from sticking or a new layer of ice from forming. And unlike granular salts, Entry doesn’t produce corrosive and carpet damaging residue that gets tracked into homes and buildings. The product is also plant and pet friendly.
Sound Absorbing Foam
Basotect is an innovative, intelligent, melamine resin foam which, thanks to its versatility, can be used in simple as well as technically demanding applications. Examples include:
- Being a key component of a unique cleaning product that “erases” marks on all types of surfaces
- As a fire-safe sound absorber in sound studios, buildings, elevators and transportation such as subway cars
- As a component to make rail seating lighter and safer for commuters
- As thermal and sound insulation in the aerospace industry
Polymer Coating For Fertilizers
NASA tapped BASF and fertilizer manufacturer Florikan to supply the fertilizer, called FlorikanCRF, to the space agency so it could do something it couldn’t do before: grow lettuce in space. Instead of using soil, which is not allowed in space due to lack of gravity, NASA uses a porous, baked-clay substrate that holds roots and water in place. BASF used Pluracol polyols and other additives to form a semipermeable coating that controls fertilizer release. Thanks to this coating (which keeps the fertilizer from releasing too fast into water) the fertilizer's release is controlled, providing the necessary delivery of nutrients straight to the plant even in the substrate, allowing lettuce to grow correctly. Now, the polymer-coated fertilizer is letting astronauts grow and eat lettuce in space.
Thermoplastic Filaments For 3D Printing
BASF recently acquired Innofil3D, headquartered in the Netherlands, to add innovative thermoplastic filaments for 3D printing to BASF’s portfolio. When using 3D printing to produce finished goods, thermoplastics provide increased material stability and long-term performance. The material becomes bendable when heated, allowing one to mold it into any shape desired rather than just a static shape. Thermoplastics make up most of the types of filament used in fused deposition modeling, a technique used in 3D printing.