OREANDA-NEWS. During Open Innovations, the international forum on innovations being held in Moscow, RUSNANO project company Akrilan announced the opening of a second production line. The new manufacturing facility will expand the company's production of nanoenabled aqueous polymer dispersions used in the preparation of paints, lacquers, sealants, adhesive cements, and construction compounds. RUSNANO has invested 600 million rubles in the project.

The portfolio company's goal is to replace imported aqueous dispersions-widely used in Russia's lacquer and construction industries, in packaging, and in nonwoven materials-with domestically produced products. Imports currently make up, by various estimates, between 25 percent and 50 percent of the Russian market. The new line's entry into operation will bring Akrilan's annual production to 30,000 tons of dispersions. When the line reaches production capacity in 2014, that indicator will double, and Akrilan's goods will take a 40 percent share in the domestic market.

Ninety percent of the dispersions Akrilan produces have particle sizes of 65 nanometers to 95 nanometers. By using nanosized dispersions, manufacturers of lacquers and paints reduce production costs and improve the consumer characteristics of their products. Unlike its competitors, Akrilan's dispersions contain no dangerous substances; there are no alkylphenol ethoxylates, often used as emulsifiers. They are prohibited in the European Union, but these surfactants still find their way into dispersions brought into Russia.

Reduction in particle size and modification of surfaces with functional groups give Akrilan's dispersions with additional desirable traits. Lacquer and paint materials based on the dispersions form durable coatings that make their service lives significantly longer compared with competitors. Therefore, these goods are very effective as coatings for metals and plastics.

In Europe today, more than 85 percent of lacquer and paint materials are based on aqueous dispersions, while in Russia no more than 30 percent of those materials begin with aqueous dispersions. Akrilan already has a leading position in the water-soluble dispersions sold in Russia. Its market share is now around 27 percent and that share continues to grow. Some of the largest Russian manufactures of paints, lacquers, and construction compounds are its clients: Empils, VGT Kraska, Tikkurlia, Henkel Bautechnik, and Lakra Sintez.

Akrilan is the only producer of constituents for self-adhesive tape in Russia. In a recently announced joint project between RUSNANO and Morton to finance a network of integrated residential construction factories, Akrilan was among the list of innovators partnering in the deal. The company will supply the paints, fillers, and concrete plasticizers need for state-of-the-art residential buildings.