New Waterborne Rubber to Metal Bonding Adhesives for the Automotive Industry

Passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Ammendments (CAAA) has necessitated a change in many of the processes and products used to manufacture high performance bonded components. The regulations resulting from the CAAA significantly impact adhesives used to vulcanization bond rubber to metal since the adhesives used for these applications typically contain 70 - 8O% solvent. Emissions of these solvents are and will continue to be regulated and continuously reduced under one or more titles of the Clean Air Act.

The focus of research in the rubber to metal adhesive industry has been the development of adhesives that comply with all aspects of the Clean Air Act. A recently introduced aqueous adhesive has demonstrated excellent performance both as a one coat and over a new aqueous primer in a variety of applications involving the manufacture of automotive components. Extensive testing has shown that this system can be used to produce bonded components with performance and reliability rivaling comparable solvent based materials.