Dispersion guide

Exilva microfibrillated cellulose is water suspended, non-soluble, microfibers used in several application areas from cosmetics to paints and adhesives. Exilva fibrils form flexible aggregates with a high surface area allowing efficient interactions with the surroundings. When fully dispersed, Exilva possesses unique functionality as structured, thixotropic gel systems that are very dependent on the shear applied.

The concentration of the Exilva product influences the techniques chosen to prepare the suspensions.
The 2% gel can be dispersed with lower shear into the formulation, whereas the 10% paste always requires the use of high shear. High shear means the use of a stator-rotor homogenizer (e.g., Ultra Turrax, Silverson) and low shear high stirring speed propeller or blade mixer. The tip speed is important and we recommend tip speeds of around 6 m/s for proper dispersion. This is only a recommendation and it will depend on the product system at hand.

Note that proper dispersion of Exilva is critical in order to obtain full functionality.