At the Compamed fair in Düsseldorf (November 12-15, 2018), Henkel will present its comprehensive portfolio of adhesive materials for applications in healthcare. Highlights at the company's booth G05 in Hall 8b, will include new LED curing adhesives for flexible medical devices, a range of advanced pressure sensitive adhesives for plasters and functional patches as well as conductive inks for smart health devices.Flexible LED cure adhesives for medical devices
Building on the company's expertise in Loctite brand solutions for the healthcare industry, the spotlight will be on new acrylic adhesives that offer significant design and manufacturing benefits. Two of these products were specially developed for use on flexible applications made of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU), two substrates increasingly specified by device manufacturers. As low-viscosity, LED curable and high-flexibility adhesives, they feature tack-free curing and combine high elongation (>200%) with outstanding bond strength also on polycarbonate, acrylic and other rigid plastics used in medical devices.
Henkel's high-elongation LED curable acrylic adhesives combine outstanding bond strength on flexible medical devices made of TPE and TPU with high flexibility and low viscosity.
"Using LED curing saves costs, thanks to the fact that it can be switched ON/OFF instantly. Additionally, the narrow spectrum of light wavelength without infrared light emissions helps manufacturers save energy consumption and minimizes the generation of heat that must be dissipated, especially in cleanroom bonding applications," says Andrés Bultó, Business Development & Key Account Manager Medical at Henkel. "When developing our new LED cure adhesives, our aim was to add further value by enhancing their flexibility and design freedom, while at the same time maximizing their bonding strength. Notably, the property profile includes fast LED curing in all geometries, from bondlines to open fillets."
Next to TPE and TPU, the products also have an ideal fit in plasticized PVC applications. Whereas flexibility in adhesives normally comes at the cost of higher viscosity, Henkel's innovative new LED cure adhesives achieve high flexibility at the lowest end of viscosity, lower than current grades available, which makes them particularly suitable for flexible joints with narrow gaps or post-assembly dispensing. In addition, they provide high fluorescence in uncured and polymerized state, enabling quick and easy quality inspection of the liquid or cured adhesive by use of black light or vision systems.
Typical applications include a wide variety of disposable medical products, e.g. tube connectors and IV sets, needle safety shields, catheters, respiratory circuits and fluid containers. The new Loctite flexible LED cure adhesives have been tested and certified according to ISO 10993 biocompatibility standards and have shown compatibility with common sterilization methods like Gamma, ETO or autoclave.
