Botanol is a synthetic material, typically used as a floor covering, made from approximately 90% renewable raw materials including canola oil,

castor oil Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans, the seeds of the plant ''Ricinus communis''. The seeds are 40 to 60 percent oil. It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor. Its boiling point is and its den ...

and

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

. Botanol was formulated as an eco-friendly alternative to polyurethane.

Background

Botanol (also called Bioboden in Germany) was developed by German company Windmöller Flooring Products GmbH in 2008, under the umbrella brand, Wineo. Their researchers formulated the material based on

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

, a high quality, wear-resistant plastic. They were able to replace the petrochemical polyols typically found in

with a bio-based polyols made from natural oils to make this material more ecological and healthy. This material does not contain any

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

plasticizers A plasticizer (British English, UK: plasticiser) is a substance that is added to a material to make it softer and more flexible, to increase its plasticity (physics), plasticity, to decrease its viscosity, and/or to decrease friction during its ...

solvents A solvent (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for p ...

and is odor-neutral.

Use

Botanol was first introduced under the brand name, PURLINE, a line of flooring developed to be an environmentally friendly alternative to

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

sheet flooring. PURLINE is a flexible, durable, resilient floor covering with a backing. This flooring is appropriate for commercial and residential applications. Unique designs are integrated in the manufacturing stage, creating fake woods and stones in addition to giving clients creative freedom to design their own logo or motif. It is offered in a roll and plank format making it versatile and easy to install in large and small spaces.

References

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