How many resin brand names do you think regular consumers recognize?
I don't mean brands that have become generic terms such as nylon and neoprene, but rather a brand actually used to promote certain products. Some folks may have known about GE's Lexan, for instance, but had no idea what a polycarbonate was. Teflon, Plexiglas and Kevlar also became widely known brands.
Today, I think Tritan qualifies. The copolyester from Eastman Chemical Co. hit the market just as studies linking BPA and health issues were being widely distributed. (Regardless of whether consumer exposure to BPA — also used in cans and other products — actually is a true health worry at minimal exposures for day-to-day life.)
Tritan suddenly was everywhere, marketed by name as a "BPA-free" material for water bottles and kitchen appliances.
An even older example is Santoprene. The thermoplastic vulcanizate was first trademarked by Monsanto in 1977. While it is used in a variety of industrial and consumer product seals and other functional parts, consumers came to know it by its use on nonslip grips.
Want to buy a set of wire strippers from a hardware store? The online description will note it is made of Santoprene and carbon steel. How about a scrub brush? Online stores listing the materials point to polypropylene, PET and Santoprene, the only brand listed by name.
Now Santoprene has been sold by ExxonMobil Corp. in a $1.3 billion deal to Celanese Corp., and Celanese CEO Lori Ryerkerk knows the value in that name.
"We are excited to welcome the Santoprene team to Celanese," she said in a story from our sister paper Rubber News. "They have built an industry-renowned brand and product portfolio in the Santoprene business that will immediately strengthen the unrivaled portfolio of engineered solutions we bring to our customers."
