July 25, 2020

Tata Chemicals has recently entered into production of Nano Zinc Oxide (nZnO), an essential component in daily lives of consumers. Nano Zinc Oxide, known to exhibit a strong antimicrobial activity against harmful bacteria and fungi, has successfully deployed nZnO formulation, in alliance with a customer, in face masks used by healthcare workers and consumers. The product is being utilised as a preventive measure for impeding the transmission of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Pravin Prashant, Editor, Indian Chemical News in an exclusive interview with Dr. Richard Lobo, Head – Corporate Strategy & Business Excellence, Tata Chemicals talks about market size of Nano Zinc Oxide, probable use cases of nZnO, investment made by Tata Chemicals and market that the company is planning to capture. Excerpts of the interview:  
 
Properties of Nano Zinc Oxide and its probable use cases
Tata Chemicals, over its 80+ years of history, has been at the forefront of serving society through science. Nano Zinc Oxide is born out of this mission. The product was developed at our innovation centre as a part of the focus on developing nano-materials that deliver distinctive value and performance. Our nZnO product offers anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-viral and UV blocking properties and hence finds application across sectors from industrial to cosmetic products including paints/coatings, adhesives, plastics and personal care products.
 
The purpose of engineering this product stems from the need a decade ago to replace organic UV blockers in paint, cosmetics and various applications because of their harmful side effects and poor durability. Our scientists realised the potential of working on Zinc Oxide which is used in these applications and developing a nano-material version of the Zinc oxide which would retain the primary properties but could also provide additional value such as water dispersion and anti-microbial/anti-fungal properties to the applications.
 
Paints & Polymers: Functionalized nano zinc oxide a multifunctional ingredient used in paints and polymers, stands apart from the bulk variant because of its fine powder form that has higher surface area and higher absorption cross-section of UV rays at lower dosages which ensures the preservation of colour and gloss.
 
Cosmetics & Personal Care: Tata Chemicals’ Zing C and ZnSpers variants, free from heavy metal impurities, when used in cosmetics and personal care products act as SPF booster that blocks harmful UVA, UVB sun rays and also act as antimicrobial agents. Made at room temperature reaction, nano zinc oxide can be made compatible with both hydrophilic and hydrophobic media applications and is available in both micro-fine powder and dispersible solution to suit varied needs of our customers.
 
Textile/Apparel Industry: Tata Chemicals’ patented process of nZnO has resulted in a new variant called Zingtex that can be used in textile applications. The smaller particle size, higher surface area, antimicrobial properties and high hydrophobicity activity of Zingtex delivers a one-of a kind stain-repellent fabric.
 
Market size for Nano Zinc Oxide within India and outside India
As per reports, the global nano zinc oxide market was valued at $2.1 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $7.7 billion by 2022. The Indian market is still at an evolving stage of adopting nano-materials across sectors and applications, though we witness healthy adoption in paints & coatings, cosmetics and personal care. Rapid industrialization along with increase in investments in these industries has fuelled the growth of the market.
 
Cosmetics segment appears to be the most attractive market for the industry players owing to increased purchasing power in the emerging economies and growth in awareness among the consumers regarding adverse effects of UV rays. Factors such as age, location or socioeconomic background plays a vital role in the cosmetic industry. Functionality of nano zinc oxide in cosmetic and personal care is highest due to their exceptional physio-chemical properties. Rising inclination of manufacturers to use soluble and biodegradable nano emulsions in cosmetics will positively influence the nano zinc oxide market growth.
 
Nanoparticles are now popularly used in every personal care product available in market, including shampoo, deodorant, sunscreens, soaps, toothpaste, hair conditioner, perfume, foundation, lipstick and after-shave lotion owing to increasing demand for sun protection cosmetics. Minimal regulatory constraints and limited health impacts is increasing its implementation in skincare and medical products. Huge expenditure in research & innovation and highly formulated industrial chemicals produced in developed nations will escalate the product demand.
 
Nano Zinc Oxide to be used for fighting against COVID-19 pandemic
As everyone fights this global pandemic and health crisis, taking steps to prevent the transmission of coronavirus is critical. The use of protective gear such as face masks and PPE kits as a precautionary measure is not just restricted to the medical fraternity but is mandatory for every individual since the spread of virus can be reduced if everyone, including people who have been infected but are asymptomatic and contagious use masks.
 
Nano Zinc Oxide (nZnO) is well known to exhibit a strong antimicrobial property against various microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi due to its small size and large surface area.
 
As the pandemic hit the country, we began to examine whether our grades can serve as protective layers given the antimicrobial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. We have deployed our nZnO formulation, in alliance with a customer, which is being used in face masks and trials are on for use in PPEs.
 
Market that Tata Chemicals is planning to capture
Currently, our focus is on strengthening our customer base across sectors such as cosmetics, paints, plastic & polymers and textiles.
 
Investment made by Tata Chemicals for manufacturing Nano Zinc Oxide
Given this is a specialty performance material; we focus on manufacturing with high precision to meet customer specifications. The annual capacity ranges to a few tons depending on the sector being served. Tata Chemicals believes in serving the society by science led innovative products, and we will continue to strive for delivering superior quality products that will help improve the final product delivered.

March 12, 2020

The next wave of growth in specialty chemicals sector will be driven via innovation. Some key areas which will help drive such innovations are e-mobility, sustainability, digitalization and plastic waste. In order to address new age challenges, we need to look at investing in R&D and come up with cutting edge solutions to remain competitive said Mr. Krishnamohan Narayan, Managing Director, BASF India Ltd during ICC 2020 annual conference.

March 06, 2020

The outlook for chemical sector seems to be pretty dynamic and disruptive. Industry will see some major disruptions and companies with focus on innovation will grow faster. Demand for transport fuel will decline due to increased adoption of EV. The industry will also see evolution of oil & gas majors to chemical majors in future. About 70% of the crude processed will be chemicals with a much larger share in the material of the future said Dr. Partha P. Mitra, President - Strategy & Initiatives, Reliance Industries Limited during ICC 2020 annual conference.

March 03, 2020

Indian chemical sector needs to play a key role in adopting best practices for promoting sustainability. Globally the industry is focusing on reducing carbon footprint and going climate neutral seems to be the best way forward. As a responsible company, Lanxess has committed more than 100 million euros for cutting carbon emission and becoming a climate neutral organization by 2040 said Mr. Nilanjan Banerjee, Vice President & MD, Lanxess India Pvt Ltd during ICC annual conference 2020.

March 02, 2020

Indian chemical industry has outperformed both in the global as well Indian market. The global oil & gas majors are moving towards downstream opportunities & its very clear that their is going to be a focus on petrochemicals in India. The wave of consolidation and mergers in the chemical sector will continue and companies which are scaling will have larger opportunities of competing in the global markets said Mr. Avinash Goyal, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company during ICC annual conference 2020.

February 28, 2020

Reducing Import dependency, attracting investments for production of quality products, use of cutting edge technologies, promoting clusters and sustainability are key objectives for the chemical industry to grow up the value chain. The chemical industry needs to attract investments both domestic as well as international and also encourage use & procurement of domestically produced goods said Mr. P. Raghavendra Rao, Secretary, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Government of India during ICC annual conference 2020.

February 27, 2020

Robotics & automated technologies have already been used globally by the chemical and petrochemical sectors and India also has started taking the lead in deploying robotic based tech to help automate their processes. We are an IIT Bombay alumni founded company having developed robotic based solutions for tank cleaning and inspection operations for Indian chemical and petrochemical companies says Mr. Romit V. Kalra, Country Head - India Business Development, Janyu Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

February 27, 2020

Through NicerGlobe initiative, we are trying to bring the Indian chemical industry to adopt safe transportation standards and processes and provide emergency response services during disasters. We have got an encouraging response from the industry for supporting the initiative and we already have several key Indian chemical manufacturers acting as our ambassadors to promote the initiative says Mr. Shanker Kuppuswamy, CEO - NicerGlobe, Indian Chemical Council.

February 27, 2020

Indian specialty chemical segment seems to be doing pretty well but still many of the intermediates are still coming from China, so manufacturing these intermediaries locally will help in boosting our exports. Our company Sud-Chemie has a joint venture with Clariant and we supply to catalysts to petrochemicals, refineries, pharma, fine chemicals etc says Mr. Sunder Parthasarathy, Deputy Manager - Mktg. & Technical Services, Sud-Chemie India Pvt. Ltd.

February 27, 2020

Indian chemical companies have been successfully raising capital and also looking at M&A as a viable means to grow forward. We have seen multiple success stories of Indian companies going public in the recent past and this trend shall continue as companies aggressively invests in R&D, facilities and sustainable practices says Mr. Ashim Bhuwania, Managing Director - Corporate Finance, Ambit Pvt. Ltd.