FLEXTEC INSIDE is a new cutting edge technology for manufacturing user-friendly and environmentally compatible adhesives and sealants for professional craftsmen.
- Market changing technology
- Henkel proprietary formulation
- Environmentally friendly
- Weather resistant universal adhesion
Modularity means flexibility
Simply combining a small number of different elements in different ways can result in a huge variety of finished components. With its FLEXTEC prepolymers, Henkel has created a modular system that can be used to make many different kinds of products, ranging from sealants to adhesives. FLEXTEC is a high performance, solvent and isocyanate-free binder that is exempt from hazard labelling. Using this basic technology, the product developers design the building blocks for polymers, one of the main components among the 10 to 15 different constituents of adhesives and sealants.
Flexible polymers
The basic structure of the polymers is relatively simple. Highly reactive silicone groups, also known as silane compounds, are docked onto the ends of polyether chains of different lengths. By modifying the chain structure, the adhesives researchers obtain products with, in some cases, fundamentally different characteristics.
The longer the chains are, the more elastic the product will be. Technically, the elasticity of a material is expressed as a value called the modulus of elasticity. A high volume means that the product is not very elastic at all. Such materials are suitable for making adhesives. Materials with low a low elasticity modulus, i.e. the more elastic ones, are used in sealants. The number of chain branches, on the other hand, affects product strength. The more branches the chain, the stronger the product.
The scientists control the speed at which adhesives and sealants react and cure by varying the molecule types (methoxy groups, for instance) linked to the silane compounds at the ends of the chains. An assembly adhesive, for example, has to hold immediately if the user wants to do something like bonding a shelf to a wall. A parquet adhesive, on the other hand, is designed to allow the flooring specialist to make corrections for some time during the installation process.
Products based on FLEXTEC technology have properties that allow adhesion to almost all substrates, but have a far greater UV stability compared to polyurethanes, for instance, making them suitable for outdoor applications too. They also adhere extremely well to damp substrates, can be painted and bonded over and are compatible with paints and coatings. They do not become brittle at low temperatures, i.e. they exhibit what the experts call “cold flexibility”.
FLEXTEC INSIDE:
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Ceresit FT 101
- Bonds to wet surfaces
- UV resistant
- Easy to use even at 5°C
- High initial tack
- Paintable
- Suitable for sealing, filling and bonding with almost all construction materials
- Internal and external use
- Serviceable in all weather conditions
- FLEXTEC Inside
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Ceresit PL700
- Excellent instant grab, dries in 24 hours
- Delivers excellent bonding results across multiple construction substrates and conditions
- Creates a flexible, durable, weather and ageing resistant bond
- Able to accommodate movement of up to 300%
- Volume stable, no shrinkage once cured
- Can be applied down to -10°C
- Resistant to heat, vibrations and UV rays
- Internal and external use
- Bonds to dry, damp & wet surfaces
- Over-paintable
- FLEXTEC Inside
*An extract from “Adhesives and Sealants” by Ceresit, Henkel.
