Torque-Expo

Adhesives and Sealants supplier Techsil has unveiled a new solvent free UV-adhesive from German manufacturer Panacol – Vitralit VBB-2N LV. The adhesive features low viscosity and is suited for bonding elastomeric materials.

Because elastomeric materials and rubbers all differ in their polymer structure, polarity, and surface properties, this makes them very difficult to bond, Techsil said. The firm added that there are drawbacks to using traditional adhesive systems. For example, Cyanoacrylates offer an easy bonding solution, but become brittle quickly and exhibit a very low impact strength. Solvents and solvent evaporation can be hazardous in the workplace making solvent based adhesives an undesirable method to use.

Techsil’s UV curing acrylates are specially formulated for bonding rubbers. They are solvent-free, simple to dispense, and are easily integrated into existing production processes. They cure in seconds under UV or visible light and so are suited to high volume production in manual or automated production lines. Bond lines are invisible, Techsil said, and the rubber adhesives demonstrate excellent bond strength on a great variety of elastomer blends.

‘Flexibility and environmental stability’

Due to its extremely low viscosity Vitralit VBB-2N LV is suitable for large area bonding as well as applications where the gap size is very small. When cured, it demonstrates excellent flexibility and environmental stability. Vitralit VBB-2N LV is a solvent-free transparent adhesive and provides very good adhesion to most elastomeric materials like TPE (Thermal Plastic Elastomer) and rubber (natural rubber latex, NBR, SBR etc).

If at least one assembly material is transparent, Vitralit VBB-2N LV cures in seconds with UV-A light to produce a strong and reliable bond. UV-blocking materials like polycarbonate can be cured due to the adhesive’s ability to cure with visible light (>400nm). Both gas discharge lamps and LEDs are suitable for curing. Excellent curing results were achieved with the Hoenle 405nm Blue Point LED light available from Techsil.

For use in medical applications Techsil can provide an alternative product with similar properties that meets the requirements for USP Class VI and is compatible with sterilisation by autoclaving, gamma irradiation and EtO.

There are more technical details available via: technical@techsil.co.uk