Toagosei Annual R&D Report “TREND” – Issue No. 6

The term UFO is the acronym for Uniform Functional Oligomer, the name of the group promoting this project. The idea is to provide polymers with low molecular weights and high functionality (narrow molecular weight distribution and copolymerization composition distribution, and few impurities that adversely affect performance) that are useful for solving resource and environmental problems at the lowest possible cost through a highly efficient and environmentally friendly process using high-temperature bulk continuous polymerization based on radical polymerization.

When the commercial plant was completed in our Nagoya Plant in 2001, we began full-scale production anddevelopment activities under the name “ARUFON.” We findour target customers not only in Japan, but also in South Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asian countries.

This technology and products derived from it have already been reported in the Toagosei Annual Research Report (TREND)1)-5), this issue, and at academic conferences, etc. This article introduces a wide range of applications of UFO polymers, including recent development topics, with a focus on examples that have received high praise from customers and have led to their adoption.