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Huber ground calcium carbonate

Adhesives and Sealants 101: Fillers

What are fillers and how are they used in adhesives and sealants?
Keith Sorrell
July 31, 2008
When a filler is used in an adhesive or sealant formulation, it is typically meant to take up space. But the space it occupies has a crucial function, making it a role player and a key component to your product’s success.
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SpecialChem fire retardant adhesives

Fire-Retardant Adhesives

This article examines the external events that have led to greater awareness of adhesives’ performance in the event of a fire, the standards and regulations that are being imposed, and the development of new fire-resistant materials.
Edward M. Petrie
November 1, 2007
Historically, fire resistance has not generally been a significant requirement when specifying adhesive systems. Recent incidents, however, indicate that this may soon change. These include events outside of the formulators’ arena, such as increased sensitivity to the performance of components in a fire, and events within the formulators’ arena, such as the development of flame-resistant additives.
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Lanxess workers on platform
Product Profile

Butyl Rubber: A Primer

What is butyl rubber and how is it used?
October 1, 2007

Butyl rubber is a copolymer of isobutylene and isoprene. Simple copolymers are known as “regular” or “clear” butyl rubber, or simply “butyl.” When butyl rubbers are modified after polymerization with the halogens bromine or chlorine, a second family, known as halobutyl rubber (or halobutyls), results.


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handwashing

Safety First: Safe Handling of Adhesives and Sealants

While cured adhesives and sealants are generally considered safe, care must be taken with airborne particles, decomposition products, and uncured components.
Edward M. Petrie
March 1, 2007

Completely cured adhesives and sealants are generally considered safe and non-toxic, although caution must be exercised when machining or grinding joints due to airborne particles. Also, decomposition products may exhibit substantial vapor pressures that present health and safety issues. However, it is exposure to uncured components that can be the most harmful, and that is the subject of this article.


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SpecialChem bathtub sealants

How Sealants Function

How do the application and performance characteristics of sealants correlate to the composition of the sealant formulation?
Edward M. Petrie
February 27, 2006
Sealants are generally chosen for their ability to fill gaps, resist relative movement of the substrates, and exclude or contain another material. Sealants are generally lower in strength than adhesives, but have better flexibility. Usually, a sealant must effectively bond to a substrate in order to perform these functions.
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Adhering to Difficult Substrates with Silicone Adhesives

Substrates with reactive groups available for bonding make chemical bonding easier to achieve, while substrates with nothing to react to make adhesion difficult.
October 1, 2005
Adhesive technology is equal parts chemistry and "black magic." The sheer number of available substrates makes it nearly impossible to test each adhesive on every type. However, by conducting tests on a selection of novel, or difficult-to-adhere-to, substrates, we can make inferences that may help narrow the choice of adhesives.
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INTERPOLYMER CORP.: Specialty Polymers Brochure

Available free of charge, the four-page brochure highlights the three general markets where Interpolymer excels: Surface Care, Consumer Specialties and Industrial Specialties.
September 12, 2005
A new full-color brochure from Interpolymer Corp. highlights the many uses of the company's specialty polymers.
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grocery shopping

Packaging EndUser: Starch- and Dextrin-Based Adhesives

Starch- and dextrin-based adhesives play a large part in industrial production, especially the packaging industry.
August 1, 2005
This article provides an overview of the raw materials that go into starch and dextrin adhesives, the methods of adhesive manufacture, and the additives that are commonly used in formulations for improvement of specific properties.
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3M epoxy dp420

Epoxy, Acrylic, and Urethane Structural Adhesives

Increasing alternatives to mechanical fastening are available.
September 1, 2004

With ongoing advances in structural adhesive formulation, designers in every industry have increasing alternatives to mechanical fasteners for assembly of metal, composites, plastics, rubber, glass and more.


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silicone adhesives in space

The Use of Silicone Adhesives in Space Applications

Every single design consideration—including the adhesives selected—is important in the costly endeavor to send an object into space.
October 28, 2003

The harsh conditions of space place a set of constraints on the technologies that take us there. Of primary concern when it comes to space system design is the adhesive chosen to hold everything together. What does it take to perform in the vacuum of space, and why do silicone adhesives continue to be the adhesive of choice in many aerospace applications?


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