Over the last two decades, environmental and workplace safety regulations on solvents have become increasing stringent. Both the formulator and end-user drive most of the efforts towards environmentally friendly systems.
Solvents are a factor in formation of ground level ozone as a result of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions that take place during formulation, application, drying, and curing. VOC emissions are subject to permitting and enforcement in order to reduce urban "smog".
Since then several alternatives to solvent-based adhesive systems have been developed.
In this article, we will look at the properties and processing characteristics of each and discuss the drivers that cause formulators to consider alternative technologies.
Read on to know more!