Farmers today have to consider and master a variety of complex challenges. Apart from climatic changes such as drought and soil erosion, they have to meet global demands and the increasing needs of consumers.

To remain competitive and profitable, they need to invest in both agricultural productivity and new technologies.

Our ability to transform market needs into new products and services makes us a preferred partner in the crop protection industry. Our globally integrated production network ensures an optimized supply chain. Clariant’s deep agronomical and agrochemical understanding enables us to provide first-class formulation guidance and optimized recommendations.

SOLUTIONS

Adjuvants

Adjuvants

An auxiliary, which is added to increase the effectiveness of an agrochemical, is called adjuvant. This may be due to several modes of action, such as facilitated wetting, penetration, or better retention. Our Synergen® brand offers a range of proven bio performance enhancers.

Emulsifiable Concentrate (EC)

Emulsifiable Concentrate

The formulation of an active ingredient as an emulsifiable concentrate (EC) is still common as it is simple to manufacture and low in cost. It contains the active ingredient, a solvent and an emulsifier system that allows the formulation to be mixed with water to form a stable emulsion. The specific auxiliaries offered by Clariant immediately give a uniform and stable emulsion that can be applied on the crop.

Emulsion in Water (EW)

Emulsion in Water

From an environmental point of view, the best solvent is of course water. In EWs, the active ingredient is usually dissolved in an organic solvent which is emulsified in water (liquid a.i.s may also be directly emulsified without an additional solvent).

Oil Dispersion (OD)

Oil Dispersion

One of the latest formulation types are oil dispersions (ODs). This technology allows very efficient and environmentally friendly agrochemical formulations.

In ODs the solid active ingredient is dispersed in the oil phase, making it especially suitable for water-sensitive or non-soluble active ingredients. When the oil dispersion comes into contact with water the formulation can either form an emulsion or a suspo emulsion.

Suspension Concentrate (SC)

Suspension Concentrate

Because of their environmental compatibility, aqueous suspension concentrates (SCs) are increasingly replacing solvent-containing formulations. Sparingly soluble active ingredients are dispersed with suitable wetting and dispersing agents to give storage-stable dispersion.

Suspo Emulsion (SE)

Suspo Emulsion

Sometimes it is necessary to combine active ingredients with strongly differing physical properties in one formulation to gain a broader activity spectrum.

A suspo emulsion (SE) consists of an organic phase with a dissolved active ingredient and an aqueous suspension phase, in which the active ingredient is dispersed in water.

The emulsifier/dispersing and wetting system used is normally designed from components of the EC/EW emulsifier system (emulsifiable concentrate/emulsion in water) and the SC (suspension concentrate) dispersing and wetting system.

Soluble Liquids (SL)

Soluble Liquids

Active ingredients which dissolve readily in water (usually salts of herbicidal compounds) can be formulated as soluble liquids (SL). To achieve a better wetting on plant leaves, additional wetting agents can be added to the concentrate. The biological performance is further improved by using adjuvants.

By far the most important active ingredient formulated as SL is Glyphosate in form of its salts.

The most common adjuvants for Glyphosate are fatty amine ethoxylates (Genamin® grades). However, certain amphoteric surfactants are gaining more importance (see our Synergen® range).

An excellent solution for Glyphosate and other aqueous formulations which combines high efficacy with a perfect environmental profile is Synergen® GL 5, a unique adjuvant which is derived from renewable resources.

Water Dispersible Granule (WG)

Water Dispersible Granule

Solid formulations have the advantage of not containing any (critical) solvent. Water dispersible granules (WG) have more and more substituted wettable powders (WP) due to their reduced inhalation hazard during handling. However, a higher amount of wetting and dispersing agents is required since the easy and quick formation of a suspension after dilution of the granules with water is crucial.

Solid formulations usually require the addition of a tank-mix adjuvant to achieve the desired performance.

  • Dispersogen SI

    Dispersogen SI is a ready to use and optimized combination of dispersing and wetting agents …Learn More