Technological advancements, industry innovations and regulatory updates: all these features and more will be highlighted at the 2013 Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC) Spring Conference and Expo in Atlanta, Ga. The adhesives and sealants community will gather at the Hyatt Regency from April 21-23 to share business information, discover the latest innovations, and network with industry leaders.

Today’s elastomeric joint sealants are quite remarkable. For a relatively low cost, they provide much of the protection against air or water intrusion for many types of assemblies. In these applications, a sealant must adhere tenaciously to the substrates and maintain prolonged flexibility while being bombarded by wind, rain, heat, ultraviolet (UV) light, ice, dirt, and so on.

Moisture-cure polyurethane adhesives, or more particularly, moisture-cure polyurethane binders, are used extensively to combine particulate materials into a solid form either by molding or other processes. These particulate materials can be diverse in physical characteristics ranging from sand and small stones to recycled tire crumb, flexible urethane foam scrap, wood, and fiber.

Spring is such a great time of year. As the trees start to bud and the flowers peek up out of the dirt, we begin to feel like anything is possible.

First produced commercially in 1951, glutaraldehyde provides broad efficacy, is readily biodegradable and formaldehyde free, and is also non-carcinogenic, non-persistent and non-bio-accumulative, which distinguishes it from many other biocides.

We are formulating acrylic adhesives (both reactive acrylics and anaerobics), but are having problems with the sourcing of monomers. Some suppliers can’t seem to give us monomers that produce shelf-stable products, even though they purport to have added extra free-radical stabilizers. Can you offer some advice?

Battelle scientists have reportedly invented a novel, water-based polyurethane unlike any other—environmentally responsible, cost-effective, soy-based and free of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent.

As in previous years, this year’s handbook has been updated with many new products and definitions. The listings are divided into five major categories: Additives and Chemical Specialties; Oils and Fatty Acids; Resins and Base Polymers; Pigments and Dyes, Dry/Dispersions and Extenders; and Solvents.

In today’s advanced electronics applications, adhesives, encapsulants, sealants, and other chemistries can be the “horseshoe nails” of mission-critical electronics systems.

Given any of the variety of adhesive and sealant products on the market, many ASI readers could probably determine the specific VOC rule and level that would apply.