TAGS: Sustainability / Natural Adhesives
This is a sponsored article by Omya.
How can manufacturers combine the green call to protect the environment with the increasingly stringent market demands for their products? How can formulations be optimized and made agile by reducing the number of components, while still achieving high performances?
Omya’s team of research and development experts have undertaken this challenge and developed Omyabond 160, a new technology that replaces both fillers and harmful rheological modifiers in formulations while simultaneously reducing the carbon footprint of the final product.
Omyabond 160 is the newest addition to the Omyabond series, the innovative products offered by Omya that are dedicated to adhesives and sealants. The entire Omyabond series of treated calcium carbonates allows for reductions in production costs as well as high batch-to-batch consistency.
Also in the spotlight from the same family range are Omyabond 520 and Omyabond 120, the fine and ultra-fine ground calcium carbonate which contain a very low moisture content even in high humidity regions, resulting in improved storage stability and reduced production costs.
In this article, let's explore how Omya helps to balance both eco-consciousness and performance. And how the construction industry reaps the benefits from their calcium carbonates with a low carbon footprint.
Green Calling or Performance Boosting?
In an increasingly eco-conscious international society, the construction industry is called to do its part by offering meaningful solutions that are both reliable and sustainable.
Efforts aimed at resource preservation, long-term durability, and carbon footprint reduction must be balanced with their potential impact on manufacturing, energy costs, storage stability, and the final technical performances of the end product.
Aware of these market challenges, Omya has developed various solutions in
its laboratories in Switzerland to support adhesive and sealant manufacturers in their daily challenges.
You name your goal, we offer the right mineral
Calcium carbonate is widely known for its natural properties in terms of:
- whiteness,
- fineness,
- purity, and
- density
In the
construction industry which is constantly evolving to adapt to new environmental goals and requirements, calcium carbonate itself as a sustainable raw material, offers a natural alternative to other binders or moisture scavengers with a low carbon footprint.
How to choose the right calcium carbonate grade? What are the added material properties or performance effects that can be achieved by using these special functional minerals?
The Natural UFGCC and the Prodigious Water Control Effect
Coated
ultra-fine ground calcium carbonates (UFGCC), including Omyabond 120 and Omyabond 160, can replace ingredients like rheology modifiers, fillers, or other harmful chemicals in reactive adhesives and sealants. Thanks to their hydrophobic coating, they have both low moisture content and enhanced dispersibility. Together with the polymer and other additives,
Omyabond products will help provide a more sustainable end formulation with a low carbon footprint.
Omya has taken a step forward in this direction and developed a product line that not only provides a sustainable solution but also makes an impact in terms of reducing production costs and water protection. These include:
Fillers normally represent the largest portion within a formulation; they can therefore add a considerable amount of moisture to the formulation if not properly pre-dried. Omyabond 120 and Omyabond 520 mitigate the necessity for water removal, lowering production and energy costs.
Less water also means less dependence on the ambient environment and humidity, providing better storage stability.
Omyabond 160: A solution that combines the rheological boosting effect of UFPCCs and the carbon footprint reduction of GCCs
In extreme or demanding applications, high modulus adhesives and sealants, for example, SMPs, STPEs, or SPURs, are normally enriched with fillers and rheological modifiers to offer the required:
- viscosity,
- mechanical properties,
- rheological performances, and
- batch-to-batch consistency to name only few
However, these components are usually harmful or have a high carbon footprint. Instead, with the sustainable functional mineral Omyabond 160, manufacturers can replace both filler and rheological modifier while also seeing improvements in terms of mechanical properties.
Omyabond 160 has a very low carbon footprint, as shown by its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). By contacting Omya experts, product carbon footprint statements can be obtained.
Omyabond calcium carbonates: Enhancing Performance Sustainably
Improve the rheological profile and performance of your adhesives without compromising on sustainability. Select Omyabond calcium carbonates that ensure consistency and cost efficiency.
A Story of Trust and Perpetual Innovation Since 1884
Since the late 1800s, Omya's mission has been to support its customers with the
best raw material offerings and to develop new solutions together with them to adapt to an ever-evolving market.
With its 17 laboratories, 3 innovation hubs, and 6 pilot plants, Omya stands alongside the top players in the construction world, helping build a more sustainable and human-sized world, in respect of future generations.
Explore Omya's product range
Select from a
wide range of additives by Omya to boost performance and lower the carbon footprint of your adhesives & sealants. Analyze the technical data of each product, get technical assistance, or request samples.
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