Low carbon and low VOC! DIC launched HYDRAN? GP series of environmentally friendly water-based polyurethane resin

Recently, DIC announced the launch of HYDRAN? GP series of environmentally friendly waterborne polyurethane resins.

The new resin has a higher solids content than traditional waterborne polyurethane resins and is amine-free, helping customers reduce processing time and odor, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Suitable for coating applications

The resin has excellent performance comparable to solvent-based products, which was previously considered difficult to achieve with water-based polyurethane resins. DIC plans to market the series globally for applications such as artificial leather, coatings and adhesives, with the goal of achieving annual sales of 10 billion yen by fiscal 2030.

Polyurethane resins have excellent properties including flexibility, strength, abrasion resistance, chemical resistance and light fastness.

Due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations in China, Europe and elsewhere, as well as growing awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Globally, the demand for water-based resins that are free from organic solvents and have no adverse effects is increasing.

However, conventional water-based polyurethane resins are not as good as solvent-based polyurethane resins in terms of texture, flexibility, hydrolysis resistance, and storage stability, and also have problems with odor caused by the amines they contain.

Free of odor-causing amines

In order to solve multiple problems associated with traditional water-based polyurethane resins, DIC has developed HYDRAN? GP series of water-based polyurethane resins, which are comparable in quality to solvent-based polyurethane resins.

Although the product is an environmentally friendly water-based product, it does not contain amines that cause odor, so it reduces unpleasant odors and VOCs during processing and in finished products.

In addition, by increasing the resin concentration from 35%-50% to 50%-60% and reducing the water content, the greenhouse gas emissions from raw material procurement to finished product production can be reduced by 60% compared with solvent-based polyurethane resins.