Nippon Shokubai Co. (Osaka, Japan; www.shokubai.co.jp) has expanded its production capacity for the functional monomer 2-(2-Vinyloxy Ethoxy) Ethyl Acrylate (VEEA), a low-viscosity, high-performance UV-curable acrylic monomer. The demand for VEEA is increasing in Europe and the U.S. as reactive diluent for UV inkjet printing. The VEEA expansion is occurring at Nippon Shokubai’s Himeji plant and is expected to achieve mechanical completion in December 2019.
The company is also expanding capacities for functional polymers EPOCROS and EPOMIN at its Himeji and Kawasaki plants, respectively. The EPOCROS expansion is expected to be completed in August 2018 and the EPOMIN expansion is planned to be completed in September 2019. EPOCROS is a highly reactive polymer with oxazoline-functional monomer as its key material. EPOCROS has excellent adhesion to films and base polymers, and its demand is increasing for PET films and coating materials as a waterborne crosslinker. EPOMIN is a water-soluble polymer (polyethyleneimine) with the highest cationic charge density among existing materials. EPOMIN has excellent reactivity and adhesiveness, and its demand is increasing for water-treatment and pigment dispersion.