As technology grows at lightning speed, specialty and custom chemicals play a more prominent role.
Fremont, CA: Specialty chemicals are formulated to create a specific function or effect. They are also known as “effect” or “performance” chemicals. While common “commodity” chemicals are employed in numerous applications, specialty or custom chemicals are usually used in just one or two products, usually by a single manufacturer. As technology grows at lightning speed, specialty and custom chemicals play a more prominent role.
The following are just six industries making strong use of these chemicals.
Pharmaceuticals
The pharmaceutical industry is special because it requires the greatest means of safety, purity, and consistency. Yet the natural resources that became medicines are far from pure or uniform. Specialty chemicals are employed across every phase of pharmaceutical production to purify raw materials, form odorless, colorless, and non-reactive drug carriers, enhance features like water solubility, and aid from the last form of the medication, like tablets or capsules.
Photographic Film
While the fundamental method for designing photographic film has not varied in 50 years, what has altered is the range of substitutes to conventional film applications. Thermal printing for all, from gas station receipts to airline boarding passes, and the fast modification of much of the film industry from analog to digital is moving the requirement for newer and better specialty chemicals to help enhance processing. Radiographic filmography for the medical and dental industries is another subgroup of the film industry that counts on specialty chemicals.
Electronics
Modern electronics depend on refined specialty and custom chemicals. These chemicals are just a few applications of flat screen displays, Silicon wafers, semiconductors, and circuit boards. The chemicals vary from specialty gases employed for gas-phase etching to thin film metals and copper plating preparation.
Mining & Mineral Processing
Mining and mineral processing has traditionally been challenging, labor-intensive areas. Specialty chemicals are making the job more comfortable and systematic by improving all stages of the work. Applications possess grinding, dust control, de-watering, and other processing support. Chemicals utilized incorporate coagulants, flotation reagents, and viscosity modifiers.
Plastics & Composites
Refined plastics and composite materials are everywhere in the modern world, from customer goods packaging to the aerospace industry. As plastics turn more complex and high-tech, specialty and custom chemicals are critical to delivering the required qualities. Examples contain heat and light stabilizers, corrosion protectors, flame retardants, antistatic agents, and flexibility modifiers.
Polymers & Monomers
Monomers or molecules that can chemically bond in chains are the elementary unit of polymers, which are the chains themselves. Specialty monomers can be formed in the lab with the correct features preferred for specific paints, adhesives, binders, emulsifiers, and other employments. These monomers are then chemically bonded to produce specialty polymers for focused applications. Instead, existing polymers can be treated with specialty or custom chemicals to improve their chemical properties.
