In finishing applications, certain silicone products also help to reduce water consumption and...
How Wacker is associated with the textile industry? What kind of products and services offered by you are useful to the textile industry?
Wacker is a leading global silicone manufacturing company and has been providing its customers with innovative and efficient finishing products for the textile industry. We have a broad portfolio of products for finishing applications for fabrics, leather, fibre, technical textile and non-wovens. Our silicone emulsions and fluids impart fabric with an ultra- soft hand-feel while intensifying fabric color. Applications range from providing hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, elasticity (especially for woven cottons & knitwear), shape retention and anti-crease properties to fabric. Our range of anti-foam additives of the Silfoam brand help regulate undesired foam formation during textile production.
In late 1998, Wacker joined forces with its Indian partner Metroark Ltd. to found Wacker Metroark Chemicals Private Limited, headquartered in Kolkata. The joint venture produces silicones primarily for the textile and personal care industry, with a special focus on local and regional demands. Thus, our products are formulated to meet local requirements while providing world class quality.
What are the distinctive properties of various types of silicones used in textile finishing?
Silicone grades range from totally inert to highly reactive and from extremely hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Their versatile application potential is also due in part to their excellent compatibility with many chemical finishing agents, such as waxes, fats, polyethylene, reactive resins, wetting agents and optical brighteners.
What are the environmental concerns that need to addressed while silicone production and how it should be done?
For us, sustainability has always been a core element of the company’s corporate strategy. Back in the early 1990s, as part of its membership in Responsible Care sustainability initiative, the company committed itself to promote environmental and health protection as well as safety in the production and use of products, beyond what was legally mandated. At its major production sites, we operate highly integrated production systems which ensure that the company’s material and energy loops are closed, thus not only optimizing manufacturing processes and efficiency, but also reducing raw material and water consumption as well as waste.
Especially in textile manufacturing, many manufacturing processes can be can be made simpler and more efficient through the use of silicones. Production failures can be avoided, raw material resources conserved, energy consumption reduced and product quality enhanced. For instance, silicone release agents reduce waste and energy consumption in the production of synthetic fibers on the spinneret or the winding up of fibers and yarns. The same is true for silicone slip agents, which lower the friction of sewing thread.
In finishing applications, certain silicone products also help to reduce water consumption and the amounts of waste water due to their high efficiency. This is an environmental advantage especially for textile mills.
What kind of silicone product is having the maximum demand in the market?
Currently, living standards are rising continuously, especially in Asia’s emerging countries. This is stimulating demand for the high-quality products containing silicones that we supply. We expect personal-care and consumer care products to grow the most, but markets such as electrical insulation, electronics, medical-engineering and construction industries also offer growth opportunities.
How is the market of India for silicone products when compared to other countries? Which country has the best demand for silicone products?
The Asia-Pacific region is visibly the fastest growing market for silicone products. Rising household incomes, higher standards of living and an increasing middle class have led to an increase in demand for high quality silicone products. This is especially true of China and India. We are a regional market leader for silicone products for textile, personal and household care, as well as for power transmission and distribution industries in India.
What kind of customized solutions are required by different types of textile industries?
As silicones are so versatile, there are numerous applications and solutions for different types of textiles and industries. For example, in textile finishing, specific functions and effects may be required, such as a pleasant soft hand, optimum moisture absorption, high wear comfort and excellent dimensional stability – all of which can be achieved by using silicones. When it comes to processing auxiliaries, our silicones can control foam formation in all textile processes and thus optimize the quality and efficiency of our customers’ products. Silicones can also be used for integrated concepts for functional coatings for technical textiles, from sports shoes to paragliders, from flame-resistant fire blankets to hospital textiles that present an excellent barrier toward liquids and micro-organisms – with our silicones, tailored solutions for all kinds of specific needs are possible.
Tell us something about Wacker’s Competence Centre for fabric, garment and personal care application.
Our joint venture production plant in Amtala near Kolkata manufactures a range of silicone emulsions and fluids for the Indian textile, homecare and personal care industry. The technical center houses top-notch equipped laboratories for product and process development as well as analysis. Taking local requirements, raw materials and environmental conditions into consideration, experts in our technical center at Amtala come up with tailor-made solutions for customers and support them in the development of new products and applications.
We are thus helping considerably to ensure and expand the availability of high-quality silicone products in India. This center has a strategic focus on providing the right solution or product to our global customers, especially in developing & emerging countries.
How is surface treatment of textiles with silicones helpful?
One of the advantages of silicones amongst others is its versatility & durability. In textiles, silicones are the ideal choice for countless applications and therefore indispensable. Whether non-shrink knitwear, water-repellent bonded fabrics or different types of cotton or synthetic woven or knit fabrics or fire-resistant technical textiles for the building industry, silicones can give materials for developing properties in yarns, fibers, fabric and leather almost any property needed. They can be tailor-made and fine-tuned to all manufacturing processes.
In textile finishing, silicones are suitable for finishing fabrics and threads. Silicones reduce friction on a fiber’s surface and thus impart very good softness to the treated fabric and make it easier to iron. As antifoam agents, foam-control systems find application in high-temperature disperse-dyeing processes, where temperatures can reach up to 130oC and where acidic as well as basic environments occur. On high-performance textiles, nonwovens, knitwear and leather goods, our silicones confer water-repellent, flame-resistant and stabilizing properties. Special types of silicone adhesives permit textiles to be shaped permanently and seamlessly as required, whether as protective suits, sails or airbags.
Moreover, some high-performance silicone rubbers enable simple and reliable processing and are ideal for textiles that must satisfy strict requirements regarding washability, flame and heat resistance, and protection against environmental influences.
What more developments can be expected in this (Textile and silicone) sector?
Chemistry makes a vital contribution to global progress and sustainable development which in turn stimulate demand for the high-quality products that we supply. Consequently, a key strategic focus is to expand our silicones business into new markets and applications, such as medical technology, renewable energy or electrics and electronics.
Wacker has also focussed its R&D efforts on hybrid materials, e.g. copolymers consisting of silicones and organic polymers covalently linked to each other. These new hybrid materials transcend the boundaries of pure silicones. They can aggregate properties unattainable by just mixing the underlying single components and thus can create completely new performance characteristics.
Published on: 27/05/2013
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
