Emerald’s portfolio of industrial specialties are value-added solutions to achieve excellent performance in a wide array of coatings, including waterbased coatings, alkyd coatings, epoxy resin coatings, stains, varnishes, and lacquers. Emerald is the largest global producer of benzoic acid, which is also used to produce our high quality additives, plasticizers, and modifiers.

The K-FLEX® line of ultra-low-VOC coalescents has excellent compatibility with polar polymers and achieves stronger, better coalesced films with excellent performance characteristics. Benefits include:

• optimal surface appearance through superior gloss and clarity,
• excellent scrub resistance, hardness development, and corrosion resistance (salt fog), and
• superior dirt pick-up resistance and block resistance versus other common low-VOC coalescents, such as triethylene glycol di-2-ethylhexanoate

In addition, Emerald provides high quality benzoate chemistries used as additives and building blocks in coatings applications.

Purox® B benzoic acid is a raw material used as a building block and chain terminator in the production of alkyd resins, where it controls viscosity and enhances desirable performance properties. It is also valuable as a corrosion inhibitor and flash rust inhibitor.

Kalama® Benzyl Alcohol is used in epoxy resins for coatings and as a more environmentally friendly alternative to methylene chloride in paint strippers.

Purox® S and Kalama® Sodium Benzoates are safe, widely used corrosion inhibitors and flash rust inhibitors for waterborne coatings.