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Boltorn – the Nordic giant
Perstorp financed a doctoral thesis in the area of allylethers when researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology suggested that dendritic polymers could be an area that would suit the company. The interest was there, not least because of the excellent fluid characteristics of these polymers that enable the manufacture of environmentally compatible paintings.
Hyperbranched polymers – of interest to Perstorp? Yes!
“Perstorp financed a doctoral thesis in the area of allylethers when researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology suggested that dendritic polymers could be an area that would suit the company. The interest was there, not least because of the excellent fluid characteristics of these polymers that enable the manufacture of environmentally compatible paintings,” explains Bo Häggman, Global Market Development Manager.
 Dendritic polymers, another term for hyperbranched polymers, was a new area for Perstorp, which required innovative work when the project started. It was not long before the first patent for dendritic polymers was registered on February 26, 1992.
“We took basic technology with certain fundamental characteristics as the starting point and embarked upon what would prove to be a long journey to generate customer value for the technology that we created,” says Bo Häggman, adding that one key to success was talking to customers at an early stage, to market the new technology and the vision for the new application areas in which Perstorp’s dendritic polymers could be used.“Over the years, there have been many hundreds of customer visits. Naturally it has taken time for customers to understand the competitive advantages, as well as the economic benefits, resulting from the introduction of this new technology. It was important for us to translate technical effects into price and performance advantages.
Research in focus for Boltorn
Development work was also conducted over a long period of time. From 1992 to 1997, work was conducted in a project form, which had a major research focus during the early years. The reason was that the Boltorn technology was perhaps one of Perstorp’s first completely proprietary products, and starting from scratch in developing a new chemical takes time and requires much new knowledge.
The dendritic polymer was given its own name, Boltorn, inspired by Nordic mythology. Boltorn was none other than the grandfather of the god of war Oden, and the giant of snow and frost. The name combined the product’s Nordic origins with the hyperbranched molecule’s similarity to a snowflake.
 Four application areas
In 1997 Boltorn left the project phase and became a separate organization. Perstorp then also focused on four application areas with four potential partners that had the greatest opportunity of success: UV-curing paints, polyurethane foam for car seats, composite materials and thermoplastics. Perstorp also focused on decorative paints, primarily waterborne coatings. Boltorn products are an excellent complement to Perstorp’s other products for water-based paints, such as film formers and Bis-MPA.
More under development
Currently the Perstorp organization is working to broaden the three principal market segments. In addition, the three original varieties of Boltorn have now been expanded to ten commercialized products, with several more under development. Where there was previously a need to learn and gain experience of various application areas, the emphasis today is on shortening the path from contact to contract.
“Perstorp is not the only company working with dendritic polymers, but we are the only company that has succeeded in commercializing this type of technology on a large scale. In my opinion, the key to our success is that we have a flexible organization that was able to respond quickly to customer requirements and requests,” says Bo Häggman, adding that interest in Boltorn is very substantial.
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