October 28, 1997

Marketing of the Inorganic / Organic Hybrid Anti-Fungal Agent "Cavinon™"

Toagosei has been marketing the antimicrobial agent "Novaron" and focusing on developing materials for amenity areas to succeed "Novaron". Our new product "Cavinon" is a radically innovative inorganic hybrid anti-fungal agent developed by improving the weak points of current anti-fungal agents by hybridizing high-performance organic anti-fungal agents with an inorganic compound. Numerous anti-fungal agents are developed and used widely in the industry. However, most of them are organic compounds so they break down easily with heat and light and in some cases, they are useless or have no effect. Consequently, there was a strong need for improvements to be made. Becoming aware of this fact, Toagosei studied ways to cover organic compounds with inorganic compounds using our precise techniques for synthesizing and compounding inorganic functional materials, which we cultivated for many years until we finally succeeded in developing the inorganic / organic hybrid anti-fungal agent "Cavinon" after substantially improving the aforementioned weak points.

Three Advantages of "Cavinon"

Heat-resistance

One weak point of current organic anti-fungal agents, their lack of heat-resistance, was remarkably improved, making molding and processing under high temperature possible. The starting temperature for analysis is 300°C (About 100°C higher than that of current organic materials).

Weather-resistance

Since Cavinon is stable under heat and ultra-violet rays, the color of materials containing it does not change much.

Durability

Since Cavinon is hybridized, loss caused by the bleed-out phenomenon, which is observed in current organic anti-fungal agents, does not happen. Moreover since Cavinon is stable across a wide pH range, the anti-fungal effects last for a long time.

Since "Cavinon" is effective against a wide range of fungi, it can be used for many purposes. For example, when heat-resistance is required, such as when it is combined with plastic or fibers or when it is processed into powder paints, Cavinon is quite efficient. Moreover, since durability was remarkably improved by hybridization, it can also be used for purposes which require long-lasting effects. "Cavinon" has two grades-an anti-fungal type #100 and an anti-fungal and antimicrobial type #200-so customers can select the type that suits their particular needs. Since we expect that demand for #200, which is for both anti-fungal and antimicrobial purposes, will be high, we will devote greater effort to further development. Although the price differs slightly depending on the grade concerned, retail prices range from ¥12,000 to ¥15,000 per kilogram. "Cavinon" will be produced at the development plant in our Tokushima factory.