Solvay Launches New Emulsifier To Boost Coatings And Adhesives Performance
Reactsurf® 2490 addresses the perennial challenges of dirt pick-up and water whitening for higher-performing coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives.
Solvay launched today Reactsurf® 2490, a new APE-free1 polymerizable surfactant designed as a primary emulsifier for acrylic, vinyl-acrylic and styrene-acrylic latex systems. Reactsurf® 2490 improves emulsion performance to deliver superior functional and aesthetic benefits in exterior coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs), compared to conventional surfactants, even at high temperatures.
In addition to exterior coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives, other common uses of Reactsurf® 2490 include paint binders, adhesives & sealants, textile & nonwoven binders, paper coatings, and building & construction applications.
“Exterior coatings and pressure sensitive adhesives are both prone to surfactant leaching,” explains Sel Avci, Coatings Global Marketing & New Business Development Director. “In exterior coatings exposed to harsh environmental conditions, leaching leads to dirt pick-up and water marks, while it leads to water whitening in PSAs. Reactsurf® 2490 prevents surfactant migration, which improves water-whitening resistance for PSAs and dirt pick-up resistance for exterior coatings. This means clear label products retain their original appearance, and exterior surfaces remain clean and dirt free.”
Reactsurf® 2490 is highly reactive and easily incorporated during the emulsion polymerization reaction. It eliminates the need for secondary emulsifiers, thereby facilitating fast and simple design of new latexes. REACH-certified and water-soluble, Reactsurf® 2490 also ensures compliance with increasingly stringent regulatory requirements for APE-free solutions. Its optimal combination of properties includes low dynamic surface tension and critical micelle concentration, good particle size control, low grit and low foaming, in turn enabling better film hardness and antiblocking.
In tests of elastomeric coating binders, Reactsurf® 2490 delivered improved blocking resistance and superior dirt pick-up resistance after three months of outdoor exposure. Initial tests also demonstrated improved water-whitening resistance in PSA applications.
1Alkylphenol ethoxylate-free
Reactsurf® 2490 is currently available in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Reactsurf® is a registered trademark of Solvay.
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Ron Sausa
Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 21,000 employees in 63 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet roadmap crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering a better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities and delivered net sales of €10.1 billion in 2021. Solvay is listed on Euronext Brussels and Paris (SOLB). Learn more at www.solvay.com.
