10 minute read
Special Producers of hybrid adhesives
HYBRID SOLUTIONS ARE TIMELESS
IMPROVING ONE ADHESIVE WITH INGREDIENTS FROM ANOTHER
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Photo – Soudal
We’ve come a long way from the days of glueing floors with pitch or loam to today’s silane adhesives. All that is because floor coverings make a lot of diverse demands, and wood not in the least. Various factors help us to decide which adhesive is most suitable for glueing this or that wooden floor. The number of forms of adhesive technology is the story of ‘the wood and the trees’. To make user choice easier, some standards try to classify adhesives into properties rather than the underlying technology. Hybrid adhesives lead us gradually to more or less universal solutions.
Choosing an adhesive, but on what basis? Various factors help us to decide which adhesive is the most suitable for glueing this or that wooden floor. For instance, you need to consider the type and flatness of the substrate. The properties and dimensions of the floor covering also affect the stability. Then there’s the type of floor. With some types of floor we want to restrict the wood’s natural movement completely, whilst with other types of floor we want to tolerate it to some extent. The number of forms of adhesive technology has increased enormously over the years. It’s the story of ‘the wood and the trees’. The standard EN 14293 provides a simplified choice between flexible and sturdy adhesives. The main property by means of which sturdy and flexible adhesives stand out from each other is the elasticity. The elasticity of a material designates the extent to which a material exerts a counterforce (the so called resilience) when the elastic is distorted (i.e. not permanently) or the extent to which a material is distorted when external pressure is applied. With hybrid adhesives we find ourselves (for the time being) mainly in the field of flexible adhesives.
Choosing an adhesive, but from what? Just as the correct extinguishing agent is crucial for putting out a fire, so, too, is the use of the correct adhesive of paramount importance for glueing parquet properly. The ‘correctness’ of the choice of adhesive is determined partly by the type of parquet, the type of substrate, weather conditions, and structural circumstances. Floor fitters have all they need since for all circumstances and combinations of circumstances the chemical industry supplies an adhesive which is more or less suitable. The range is extensive: dispersion adhesives, mono or dual-component adhesives, polymer adhesives, etc. The ingredients, too, are extensive: acrylate, polyurethane, silane, epoxy, and such like. Wide as that range is, researchers nevertheless continue to work on the development of new adhesives. Floor fitters had only just adapted to the breakthrough of MS polymers and other silane adhesives when the technological world came out with the term ‘hybrid’; so far, so good. Parquet floor fitters can live with that, too.
Choosing an adhesive: a little bit of everything! Hybrid adhesives combine the strong properties of various forms of technology in order to obtain specific properties. Amongst other things, silane adhesives can have as a backbone a silicone or a polyurethane with one or more functional silane groups which cross-link during the reaction process. Combinations of technology based on polyurethane and these silicones are often called STPU adhesives. These contain no isocyanates. According to most producers, these hybrid adhesives are gaining ground. That certainly applies to professional clients. Professionals have access to different product groups than private clients, usually as a result of legislation with regard to hygiene and safety. Parquet floor fitters appreciate these adhesives mainly due to the easy spreading and the extensive possible uses. These adhesives are making great gains especially in the form of elastic adhesives.
The ‘studious’ floor fitter There are no easy professions, that’s for sure. The world is complex and each ‘trade’ is based upon at least a modicum of science. Why? Because science serves the trade and leads to better results. Most producers have noticed that modern parquet floor fitters, unlike their predecessors and despite the rapid developments in the range, are well aware of which sorts of adhesive are offered for which applications. It wasn’t always like this. Where have the days gone when parquet floor fitters were handy joiners who had a feel for wood and were trained by their ‘mentors’ in fitting a certain type of parquet with a certain type of adhesive and a certain type of finish? Technology has (figuratively) put a bomb under that simplicity. Like so many others, floor fitters are now dependent on continuous further training. Lots of manufacturers/ suppliers organise training sessions for professionals to help them use these adhesives properly. Information sessions in schools and training centres are also possible. During such sessions, the stress is on how these adhesives differ from other adhesives.
What’s on the market ?
Blanchon Forms of technology commonly used in hybrid adhesives are vinyl adhesives, epoxy-polyurethane, polyurethanes (one and two components), and hybrid polymers. Some major assets of these adhesives: They are versatile, mono-component, and therefore handy in use, flexible, durable, and perfect for glueing wide floorboards. Moreover, they are moderately sensitive to residual moisture in the screed and they have the same consistency in all seasons. At Blanchon the three references in this connection are hybrid polymers. The AB 1300, which is very comfortable to work with, will suffice for all classical glueing up to 130mm wide. The AB 2000 can be deployed for glueing up to 200mm. Finally, there is the essential sausage adhesive, which does
not flow when used vertically. Worth knowing: Each year, Blanchon organises its ‘Technical Training Days’ for parquet floor fitters.
Chimiver
UNISIL is a prepolymer based, single-component hydrocuring adhesive with a silanic termination (MS technology). Recommended for gluing pre-finished wooden floor onto marble, grit, tiles, ceramic or marble-chip floor, etc. Also suitable for gluing wooden floor onto underfloor heating and cooling system. It can be also used for gluing panels for heat and acoustic insulation (cork, polyurethane foam, rock wool); gluing tiles on asbestos cement and chipboard panels and gluing wood and building materials (ceramics, gres-slabs) on metal supports. UNISIL has different certificates such as: EC1; ATTESTATION CCA Environmentally Compatible Product (Certificate issued by Department BEST - Politecnico of Milan CCA Registration No. 20163); Sound Reduction (CSI Test Report No. 0056/DC/ACU/06); Heat conductivity (CSI Test Report No. 0020/DC/TTS/06). UNISIL can contribute to the achievement of QI CREDIT 4.1 according to the parameters of the GEV dated 03 March 2009, because it meets the certification LEED protocol (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Devo® According to Devo®, a hybrid adhesive is an adhesive for which two or more forms of binding/setting technology are used. The combination which is used a lot at the moment, and to which one refers with this term, is the hybrid binding of MS polymer and silane. Obviously, other hybrid bindings are also possible. The term hybrid adhesive is sometimes used wrongly as a positive or negative indication of quality, whilst hybrid adhesives are not per se better or worse than other sorts. Devomat presents three MS polymer adhesives, namely Devo® Glue MSP 150 1C (semi-elastic), Devo® Glue MSP 200 1C (soft elastic), and Devo® Glue MSP 250 1C (hard elastic). Devo® Glue MSP250 is packed in 5kg bags. That means you can work cleanly without spills. You apply the amount of adhesive needed at the time, whilst the rest stays in the bag. This aluminium bag also ensures a longer shelf life. The open time of Devo® Glue MSP250 is 50-80mins. until a skin forms, and that is a long open time. The rapid technological progress and the changing market mean that in-depth knowledge is still limited in this area.
Devo® does organise monthly workshops and training sessions to keep parquet professionals informed about these new forms of technology. Training sessions take place every Friday afternoon. Themes like substrate preparation and glueing, sandpapering parquet, and DevoNatural® finish techniques follow each other in succession and are repeated each month.
Emfi
At EMFI, they, too, have seen how hybrid adhesives are gaining ground on solvent and PU adhesives. Emfi Parquet has both PU adhesives and hybrid adhesives. As regards hybrid adhesives, Emfi presents Emfi Parquet Pro+, a parquet adhesive which is based on silanated polymers and suitable for the full glueing of all types of parquet. Thanks to a great deal of research and development, Emfi Parquet Pro+ complies with the strictest environmental standards; this adhesive contains no solvents, silicones, or isocyanates. This adhesive is suitable for glueing very wide floorboards in oak. It adheres rapidly and is very easy to apply. Emfi Parquet Pro+ is a mono-component adhesive.
Pallmann
A hybrid glue or hybrid adhesive is a kind of glue which reacts with atmospheric moisture. This procedure of crosslinking is similar to silicones. Silane polymer adhesives are mostly viscoplastic and have a high adhesive strength. As polymers and silanes yield a hybrid, they are also sometimes called hybrid adhesives. These are the so-called 1-component STP-adhesives. Generally there is a distinction between 1-component-STP-, 1-component-PUR and two-component PUR wood flooring adhesives. Hybrid glues are easy to apply and suitable for a wide range of wood floors that is why they are gaining ground. The advantages of these adhesives are the very good ridge formation and the hard-elastic adhesive ridges. They are solvent- and water-free, there is no swelling pressure in the timber and they have low odor. They can be spread easily and there is no complicated mixing with a hardener component necessary. The adhesives have a shelf life of 12 months in tightly closed containers. The open time varies according to the particular type of product - it is about 25 minutes. Pallmann offers regularly trainings for woodfloor professionals at its headquarters in Würzburg (Germany) as well as in various countries.
Soudal
Nowadays, 1-component hybrid adhesives are a familiar segment in the market. They contain no water, solvents, or isocyanates, so they can be used without any extra precautions. Moreover, spilt adhesive can easily be removed without damaging the base. The combination of a high strength and ongoing elasticity means they can be deployed very widely, often even without treating the subfloor first. Thanks to their high elasticity, they give the wood more space to swell and shrink, but without compromising on efficiency. Soudal hybrid parquet adhesives comply with the EU standard for elastic parquet adhesives, have an EC1+ grade, and stand out for performances and convenience. Furthermore, they are easy to spread, the adhesive grooves show excellent form stability, and they set quickly, things which are all important for a perfectly finished wooden floor. Moreover, all hybrid parquet adhesives from Soudal are used in combination with floor heating and cooling.
Thomsit
A hybrid adhesive is a combination of different bonding technologies, for example SPUR, STP or MS Polymers. These hybrid adhesives like Thomsit's Flextec adhesives win ground because of their many advantages over the classic PU adhesives and dispersal adhesives. The adhesives are already sufficiently known to the parquet layer, but the higher price prevents some parquet layers from choosing this completely. Important advantages of these adhesives include easy workability, the elasticity of the glue and stains that are easily removable from parquet. They are also water- and solvent-free. Thomsit has a suitable hybrid adhesive for all types of parquet; Thomsit P 675, P 685 and P 695 all equipped with the in-house developed Flextec technology. There is also a price-friendly alternative in the form of the elastic glue P 665, suitable for multi-layer parquet. In order to allow the parquet layer to experience the benefits of these adhesives for themselves, Thomsit provides training both in-house and on location at the customer.