Rhodia and Avantium team up to develop biobased polyamides

Avantium is in the process of commercializing its YXY (pronounced "iksy") technology, a catalytic method of carbohydrate conversion for production of biobased "furanic" chemical building blocks. Rhodia will test the YXY building blocks for engineering applications in various areas, such as consumer goods, automotive and electronic materials. The two companies have entered into a multi-year, exclusive collaboration towards commercialization of these new polyamides and together will explore the global market for bio-sourced polyamides.

Avantium CEO Tom van Aken said about the new collaboration, "Rhodia is a world leading player in the development, manufacturing and supply of polyamides. We are very pleased to work with Rhodia on developing performing, sustainable and competitive solutions for a broad range of customers. Together with our existing partnerships in polyamides, we are now completely covering all application areas for polyamides on basis of our green building blocks."