Steve Block, NXTLEVVEL Biochem's vice president of business development, received the 2022 American Coatings Award for the most outstanding conference paper on April 5 during the plenary session of the 2022 American Coatings Conference in Indianapolis, Ind. for his presentation titled "The Use of Levulinates as Coalescing Agents in Water-based Coatings." Block received a sculpture and a cash prize of 2,500 dollars.
In his technical paper, Block deals with the development and implementation of affordable and sustainable processes for converting renewable raw materials into chemical building blocks. Building blocks that are becoming increasingly urgent and important to reduce global dependence on fossil fuels and minimize the carbon footprint. The company NXTLEVVEL Biochem has successfully realized the production of second-generation biomass-derived chemicals on a commercial scale - with new technologies for biosolvents based on the conversion of biomass into levulinic acid derivatives, originally developed by GFBiochemicals. Block highlights levulinic acid derivatives as a key technology for the transition to petrochemical-free chemistry.
Block explains that levulinic acid derivatives produced from agricultural waste, such as butyl levulinate and ethyl levulinate propanediol ketal, can be used as sustainable alternatives to coalescing agents such as 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol monoisobutyrate, 2,2-dimethyl-1-(methyl ethyl)-1,3-propanediyl bis(2-methyl propanoate) and triethylene glycol bis(2-ethylhexanoate). His paper discusses the technology, application examples and the environmental impact of this technology in detail. He shows that the performance of these levulinic acid derivatives, along with the resulting reduced use in many resin systems, meet the needs of the industry to achieve cost-benefit criteria with sustainable chemistry.
Block reports that the limited water solubility of levulinic acid derivatives helps to lower the minimum film forming temperature (MFFT) and helps to improve the properties of the film, particularly hardness. The paper also highlights that levulinates have an excellent health, safety and environmental profile and contain up to 100 percent bio-based carbon, making the case for replacing traditional petrochemical coalescing agents with levulinates.
Block has worked in the specialty chemicals industry for nearly 40 years and has focused on developing strategies to commercialize new products. Throughout his career, he has supported both technical and commercial teams in bringing new chemical technologies to market and building strategic partnerships with a focus on household and personal care, institutional and industrial cleaning, paints and coatings, and agricultural chemicals. Block earned a BA in Chemical Engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology and an MA in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from Wichita State University.
