Elastic Sealing and Bonding
The Elastic Sealing and Bonding R&D department develops sealants and adhesives for construction and industry applications. Sika® is world wide the market and technology leader in 1C polyurethane sealants and adhesives. During the last decade, the technology range for sealants and adhesives was extended to silane terminated polymers, silicones and acrylics, which offer further advantages for special applications.
Polyurethane Technology
Polyurethane systems are widely used and appreciated as 1C-humidity curing sealants and adhesives due to their versatility to adapt the mechanical and adhesion properties to the application requirements. Therefore, the product portfolio covers a broad range of applications; e.g. low-modulus joint-sealants in construction, wood floor bonding and bonding of assembly-parts in industry. Sika is recognized as the world wide technology leader in 1C polyurethane sealants and adhesives, which are sold under the well-renowned brands Sikaflex and SikaBond. With our latest innovation, the i-Cure technology, Sika can offer labeling-free polyurethane sealants and adhesives.
Silane-Terminated Polymer Technology
Silane-terminated polymers (STP) combine the properties of polyurethanes and silicones. Sika’s STP products, sold under the brands Sikaflex® and SikaBond®, extend the portfolio performance, especially in the applications where less surface pretreatment and isocyanate free products are requested. Our new developed Sikaflex AT-range fulfils all relevant standards for construction sealants and shows excellent application properties. For industrial applications, the focus is on accelerated curing systems for sealing and bonding.
Silicone Technology
The Silicone product line Sikasil is primarily designed for high-end industrial applications in façades, fenestration and insulating glass. The latest developments aim to combine the excellent stability against atmospheric conditions of silicone adhesives and sealants with increased scope for design by high level mechanical properties and increased productivity for our customers e. g. by enhanced curing speed. This enables the broad use of the Sikasil® specialities in other markets, like OES, solar and transportation.
2C-Acrylate Technology
For special applications where a fast strength development is required, Sika developed the SikaFast product range. Derived from the acrylic chemistry, the SikaFast technology keeps the positive while overcoming the limiting properties, like low elasticity, of the traditional acrylics. The fast curing SikaFast® products are a real alternative to mechanical fastening techniques and ideal for fully automated processes. To overcome the emission issues of MMA based adhesives, Sika has developed the low odour SikaFast-5000 series.