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Improving water-based adhesives Development Department of Company D, a Film Manufacturer

Switching from solvent to water-based adhesives posed unexpected challenges

Achieved high adhesion and safety with waterborne polymer crosslinker

Inks & Coatings
Adhesion, Bonding, and Tack Curing/crosslinking

Company D manufactures a large number of functional films. There is a high demand for PET film-based functional films, and the company needed to change the adhesive used from the current solvent-based to a water-based adhesive in consideration of VOC regulations. The company started development, but faced several challenges along the way.

Challenges

Water-based crosslinking agents do not achieve satisfactory adhesive performance.

The problem arose during the film lamination adhesion process. When bonding a functional film to a base film, the water-based adhesive compounded by Company D did not meet the adhesive requirements under some test conditions.
Mr. X from the Development Department looks back on the situation at that time as follows:

"We searched for and repeatedly tested various water-based cross-linking agents to be combined with the base agent in water-based adhesives. However, we were unable to obtain adhesion that met our specifications, and the results were always disappointing."

Furthermore, depending on the crosslinking agent used, there are some combinations that produce unnecessary by-products, so great care must be taken when selecting the crosslinking agent.

"Switching to water-based adhesives would not only improve the environmental friendliness of our products, but it would also have the benefit of improving the health and safety of the workers involved in manufacturing on-site, so we wanted to make this a reality somehow," said Mr. X.

Mr. X and his team continued to test several combinations, but the results were the same and there were no signs of improvement. Since there was a development deadline, they decided to expand their scope even more than before and continue to gather information on water-based crosslinking agents.

Key Challenges

  • Water-based adhesives do not provide satisfactory adhesive performance.

  • Some combinations of crosslinking agents may produce unnecessary by-products.

  • To improve the health and safety of workers at manufacturing sites, we would like to switch to water-based adhesives.

Solutions

Solution Summary

  • EPOCROS™ is a highly safe water-based polymer crosslinking agent that possesses various characteristics as a component of water-based adhesives.

  • Since no by-products are generated, there is a possibility that high adhesion can be achieved.

  • Water-based adhesives can improve worker safety in film manufacturing sites.

Oxazoline group-containing polymer "EPOCROS™"will solve all your challenges!

Mr. X encountered the oxazoline-containing polymer "EPOCROS" at a materials exhibition he visited for information gathering.

"I found EPOCROS very helpful. Even when mixed with the main adhesive agent, EPOCROS is stable and has a long usable life. Moreover, unlike water-based crosslinking agents such as blocked isocyanate and melamine, it does not produce by-products. Therefore, no substances that impair adhesion remain in the adhesive layer, and I realized that there is a possibility of achieving high adhesion." (Mr. X)

Mr. X was also reassured by the fact that it had already been widely adopted as a cross-linking agent and adhesion modifier.

We promptly received samples of EPOCROS and used them in the development of a water-based adhesive, conducting repeated validations. As a result, the outcomes were excellent. The bonding of PET film substrates, which had previously shown insufficient adhesion, achieved satisfactory performance with the use of EPOCROS. Additionally, the use of a water-based adhesive became possible, improving the safety of workers in the film manufacturing environment.

In response to these results, Company D has decided to adopt EPOCROS, and is soon planning to release a functional film based on PET film using EPOCROS.

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