It’s been said that hindsight is 2020. To usher in the new decade, we’d like to offer a retrospective on the automotive adhesives—both liquids and pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes and films—that continue to redefine the industry.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) can be used as a pigment base in applications such as coatings, plastics, and laminates. No matter the application, it is important to avoid the coagulation and agglomeration of the TiO₂ dispersion during both the pigment production process and the end-use manufacturing process.

Hundreds of coatings formulators and chemists are expected to attend Coatings Trends & Technologies (CTT), which will be held September 9-10 in the Chicago suburb of Lombard, Ill. The event will feature educational conference sessions in a two-track format, as well as tabletop exhibits and various opportunities to network with industry colleagues.

The specialty chemicals value chain has risen to the challenge of retooling to fill large supply gaps for sanitation products, packaging containers and inks, and other essential products to meet spikes in demand as an outgrowth of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We assemble steel panels with welding and screws. Can we replace these with an adhesive?

At the beginning of the year, and even as recently as March, the extent of our shared health crisis could not have possibly been imagined. Very quickly, however, following updates from national and international health organizations and the federal government, everyone, including all of us at the Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC), began to make strategic decisions regarding how to not only navigate the perilous situation, but how to move forward.

The Pressure Sensitive Tape Council defines a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) as requiring two things: aggressive and permanent tack, and adhesion with finger pressure. This simple definition makes the concept of a PSA easy for anyone to understand.

In collaboration with Origin, Henkel recently announced that it has leveraged its ability to carry out biocompatibility and mechanical testing at its facility in Concord, Calif., and provided a range of 3D-printable medical photopolymers designed for use on Origin’s material development systems. 

The potting of electronic components involves filling the assembly with a compound such as liquid resin (e.g., epoxy, silicone, polyurethane) to protect it from environmental or use conditions like moisture, humidity, and vibration. Any air entrapment in the potting compound can result in air bubbles that may cause performance problems in the finished component.