Supercritical Fluid Spray Application Process for Adhesives and Primers

摘要

In this project, we reformulated various solvent borne, high volatile organic compound (VOC) adhesives and adhesive primers, as cited in SERDP's Statement of Need, for application by a supercritical carbon dioxide spray process. Over the last several years, a new spray application process has been developed for polymeric based paints and other coatings that can reduce solvent VOC emissions up to 80%. This process was conceived by the principal investigator of this project and has been commercialized by the Dow Chemical Company. This unique process (known as the UNICARB (trademark) process) is based on the use of supercritical carbon dioxide as a replacement for organic solvents in multi-component spray coating formulations. By adapting this process to adhesives and adhesive primer applications, stringent compliance standards can be achieved respective to environmental, toxicological, materials compatibility, and, physical property performance characteristics as outlined in the original proposal and Statement of Need. Furthermore, by employing this process to apply adhesives that are presently used in the military, the costs incurred for developing and testing new (different) low/no-VOC, non-structural adhesives will be negated.