Ethyl lactate: a green solvent for magnetic tape coating

The hazardous air pollutants (MEK, MIBK and toluene) used in magnetic tape coatings are replaced with ethyl lactate, which is not a hazardous air pollutant and made from renewable resources. A magnetic dispersion, containing 50/50 ethyl lactate and tetrahydrofuran, has rheological properties similar to a conventional dispersion and gave tape samples with magnetic properties comparable to VHS tape. The materials cost of the formulation containing ethyl lactate was higher than the costs of the conventional formulations.