GENIOSIL alpha-silanes are used to formulate high-performance adhesives and sealants for the construction and assembly industries.

WACKER has received Frost & Sullivan’s New Product Innovation Award for its novel GENIOSIL® product class. According to Frost & Sullivan, the GENIOSIL product class was reportedly chosen because it incorporates advanced alpha-silane technologies, offers superior performance during processing, delivers high value to customers, and provides a fast return on investment. GENIOSIL can enable the formulation of fast-curing adhesives and sealants, with applications ranging from highly flexible, paintable sealants to high-strength assembly adhesives, and crystal-clear cabinet sealants.

Frost & Sullivan tested several construction adhesives and sealants before presenting the award. Assessment criteria included innovative element, leverage, value- added features, return on investment and penetration potential. GENIOSIL received top points in all categories.

“WACKER’s GENIOSIL products incorporate a special silane structure that equips them with high reactivity, which enables them to be interlinked with polymers, leading to a wide range of possible formulations,” said Macaulay Iyayi, Best Practices account manager with Frost & Sullivan. “GENIOSIL is able to successfully eliminate crosslinking problems associated with polyurethanes and enhance the properties of silicones. Frost & Sullivan is therefore proud to present the 2011 New Product Innovation Award in the Construction Sealants Market to Wacker Chemie AG.”

Rudolf Hager, Ph.D., supply chain director and head of WACKER SILICONES’ alpha-silane project, accepted the award. “We are very proud of this award, because it shows that even analysts and market experts are enthusiastic about our innovative silane and hybrid technologies.”

The alpha effect is a phenomenon that has been known for some time. In the 1960s, scientists discovered that substitution of certain structural elements led to higher organo-functional silane reactivity. This discovery, however, was slowly forgotten.

In the end, WACKER chemists recognized the alpha effect’s potential and how to use it, Hager said. “Highly reactive alpha-silanes enable the production of rapid-curing adhesives and sealants, isocyanate-free construction and installation foams, scratchproof coatings, abrasion-resistant composites, and low-tin or even tin-free silicone sealants. That’s what makes alpha-silanes quite unique.”

Sealants and adhesives formulated with GENIOSIL reportedly offer outstanding mechanical properties. They do not require labeling, since the formulations are free of plasticizers and solvents. GENIOSIL is used in numerous sophisticated adhesive formulations for applications in the automotive sector, container construction, and for parquet floor bonding. WACKER also offers a new range of ready-to-use adhesives called GENIOSIL N, which includes several products for the adhesive and sealants industry.

For more information, visit www.wacker.com.

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