Guangzhou, China - November 07, 2006

With the multifunctional amine, AMP-95™ dispersant, ANGUS Chemical Company (‘ANGUS’), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, offers customers a unique additive for latex emulsion paints that brings multiple advantages to the finished product. While most commonly known for its neutralizing capabilities, AMP-95 can offer a variety of additional benefits, helping to optimize the formulation and reduce overall cost including as an excellent co-dispersant.

“As our flagship molecule, AMP-95 can perform functions that are typically addressed with the addition of multiple raw materials, such as dispersants, thickeners, surfactants and defoamers,” said Vincent Zeng, regional commercial manager, China, ANGUS Chemical Company. “Replacing these additives with the multifunctional AMP-95 can help simplify the formulation process and provides cost-saving benefits, while not compromising the final product.”

AMP-95 (2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol) offers the following benefits, among others, which can be realized in various stages of paint manufacture:

• Enhancing Film Performance
  Most dispersants and surfactants contain 25-50% non-volatile, hygroscopic components which remain in the dried paint film and contribute to poor scrub resistance and water spotting. AMP-95 evaporates from the paint film and is virtually gone from a film in two to six days, depending on atmospheric conditions. This ensures improved scrub resistance, water resistance and reduced water spotting of the paint film.

• As a Co-Dispersant
  AMP-95 is a slow evaporating material, making it effective in the grind as a co-dispersant. It does this by placing a negative charge on each of the pigment particles, which repel each other and keep the pigment well dispersed, while also preventing agglomeration. Use of AMP-95 as a co-dispersant can also extend to other key properties:
  
  
  • Opacity: AMP-95 provides maximum dispersion of all pigments, creating optimum hiding power.
  • Stability: Viscosity stability can improve when using AMP-95 in the grind. Paints are more freeze/thaw stable, and paints with zinc oxide are more resistant to gelling.
  • Color acceptance: AMP-95 provides superior color development of pigments, for both dry and pre-dispersed colorants.
  • Gloss: Specular reflectance is enhanced in semi-gloss and gloss paints when AMP-95 is used as a co-dispersant.

• To Reduce Levels of Cellulosic Thickeners
  AMP-95 assists in the thickening of cellulosic thickeners to greatly improve the efficiency of these products. This allows thickener levels to be reduced, while maintaining the same level of performance.

• As a Replacement for Ammonia
  AMP-95 has superior pH stability than ammonia, which is critical to paint formulation as it helps control pigment dispersion, vehicle stability package corrosion, and viscosity stability. Ammonia is a weaker amine and is much more fugitive than AMP-95, thus providing poorer pH stability and a stronger odor. With the ever-tightening VOC regulations, AMP-95 is an excellent alternative to ammonia.

• To Reduce Corrosion
  AMP-95 reduces pH drift in latex paints, effectively stopping in-can rusting in areas like seams and edges. It also helps reduce flash rusting over steel and iron, which is important for paints that are exposed to nailheads, casements and other ferrous surfaces.

ANGUS recently opened a regional customer application center in Shanghai to give local customers access to formulation specialists and technical experts who can help them optimize their formulations using AMP-95. A second technology center in Guangzhou is scheduled to open in early 2007. For more information on the benefits of AMP-95, please contact the ANGUS Sales Office in China at +86 20 8752 0380.

Aligned as a market-focused, solutions-driven specialty chemicals business, ANGUS is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. ANGUS develops and delivers nitroalkane-based solutions to our customers for applications in latex paints, mineral slurries, metalworking fluids, water treatment, biological buffers, solvents and thinners, wood adhesives, pharmaceutical & agricultural intermediates, SBR latex shortstops, fuel additives and personal care and household products. Further information on ANGUS Chemical Company is available on the Internet at www.angus.com.

About The Dow Chemical Company

Dow is a diversified chemical company that harnesses the power of science and technology to improve living daily. The Company offers a broad range of innovative products and services to customers in more than 175 countries, helping them to provide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personal care products. Built on a commitment to its principles of sustainability, Dow has annual sales of $46 billion and employs 42,000 people worldwide. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.

For Editorial Information:

Louise Falp
ANGUS Chemical Company
(847) 808-3771