MEGUM™ W-Series adhesives offer performance and sustainability benefits

DuPont now offers a rubber-to-substrate adhesive based on water rather than chemical solvents. The new MEGUM™ W-Series adhesives are helping customers decrease their carbon footprint, increase worker safety, and improve cost efficiencies—all without sacrificing performance. This advancement improves environmental impacts for automotive manufacturers while meeting their high-performance requirements.

We have developed a number of different waterborne adhesives to suit a wide range of applications, substrates, and customer requirements. Most can be used in existing production lines—requiring no new machinery—and have fewer processing steps, which reduces energy consumption. DuPont’s continued investment in the specialty adhesive market allows for these technology advancements to further build on the team’s multi-decade experience and global success.

Traditionally, rubber-to-substrate adhesives contain between 50 and 95 percent organic solvent. This is legally required to be incinerated after the adhesive is applied and dried, emitting a significant number of volatile organic compounds and carbon dioxide emissions in the process. Switching from solvent-based systems to the MEGUM™ W-Series enables customers to turn off these expensive incinerators and therefore make great strides toward their environmental goals and cost-savings targets. Water-based adhesives also tout the remarkable ability to dry two to four times faster than solvent-based adhesives, further decreasing exposure times and production process time, which drives more value for the end customers.
 

About rubber-to-substrate adhesives

All methods of motorized transportation—including electric and hybrid vehicles—are subject to noise and vibration. To improve comfort and handling, manufacturers rely on hundreds of rubber parts to dampen harshness. Many of these anti-vibration components, including buffers, dampers, mounts, and bushings, are bonded directly to metal components strategically located throughout the vehicle, most notably in the engine compartment.

Bonding the rubber (or synthetic rubber blends) to the strong substrate requires an adhesive that can adhere to both substrates with great strength and durability. All automotive components, including the adhesive, are designed to last at least 15 years to accommodate the expected vehicle lifespan.