Acrylic acid

Acrylic acid is the raw material for products such as polyacrylic acids, plastics, coatings, adhesives and synthetic resins. Depending on the molecular weight and degree of cross-linking acrylic acid can also be used in applications such as flocculants, thickeners and wetting agents. In addition, acrylic acid can be co-polymerized with various monomers such as styrene, butadiene and vinyl acetate.

Acrylic acid - world-wide

The world-wide consumption of acrylic acid has increased in the past years. Much of this increase can be attributed to the production of superabsorbents for the personal care industry. Absorbent polymers consume approximately thirty percent of the acrylic acid produced.

By far the largest application for acrylic acid is in acrylic esters, which combined consume about fifty percent of the total acrylic acid produced. The most produced acrylic ester is butyl acrylate, followed by ethyl acrylate, 2- ethylhexyl acrylate and methyl acrylate.