CLEVELAND—ChemSpec Ltd. and Spherix Mineral Products have reached an agreement for ChemSpec to distribute Spherix's Dispersix brand of high conservancy rubber silicone processing additives in the U.S. and Mexico.
Both firms exhibited at the ACS Rubber Division expo in Cleveland.
Dispersix is a growing family of hybrid inorganic-organic microspheres that are optimized for HCR silicone cure chemistry, according to a ChemSpec release.
"The Dispersix product line offers new and improved technical solutions in the processing and overall performance of silica-reinforced HCR compounds," ChemSpec said.
"These materials are ideal for easy-to-engineer, value-added property gains without significant changes to overall physical properties," it said.
Reduced mixing time and energy consumption; higher mixing, extrusion and molding rates; and greater product uniformity are among the advantages Dispersix additives offer, according to ChemSpec.
Besides offering performance innovations, Dispersix additives are derived from recycled fly ash and use very little energy in production, ChemSpec said.
"The fact that these products are sustainable materials, especially when compared to many other chemical additives in the marketplace, is an important distinction," it said.
This is the first time Spherix has signed a distribution agreement with ChemSpec, according to Michael J. Renzi, Spherix business director. ChemSpec will begin distributing the Dispersix family of products by the end of October, he said.
"If that goes well, the other (Spherix) product lines will be considered for distribution," Renzi said.
Uniontown, Ohio-based ChemSpec is a management-owned chemical distribution firm and a subsidiary of the French firm Safic-Alcan.
The company distributes specialty and commodity chemical additives and specialty polymers in the North American elastomer mixing industry, as well as coatings, adhesives, sealants, inks, plastics and cosmetics compounding market segments, it said. It has a Mexican subsidiary, ChemSpec Mexico.
A division of the SEFA Group, Spherix manufactures and markets 100-percent post-industrial recycled mineral products and reduce processing time and product cost of organic rubber, plastics, and silicone rubber, ChemSpec said.