Products Based on Improved Adhesion

Bitumens are stored at 120-200°C and at these temperatures amine groups in the adhesion promoters can react with acid groups in the bitumen to form less active amido compounds, or can degrade by oxidation. The rate of degradation depends on the acid value of the bitumen and the chemistry of the adhesion promoter. Where possible, the adhesion promoters should be added to the bitumen just before use. So-called heat-stable products based on less reactive tertiary amines or polyamines have been developed for situations where the treated bitumen must be stored for longer than a few hours. Field studies have shown that treatment of bitumens with adhesion promoters improves the performance of roadways. 

Urethanes Urethane adhesion promoters are used widely to bond PVC to polyester, nylon, and other fabrics, including sized glass fiber. In multicoat operations, the additive is used only in the first coat. With, polyester fabric, the isocyanate component in urethane formation can be used alone. Solvent or plasticizer solutions of oligomerized toluene diisocyanate (TDl) are available under the trade names Vulcabond (Akzo Nobel), Vanchem HM-50 (Vanderbilt), Thanecure T9 (TSE Industries), and Desmodur (Bayer). For improved resistance of the bond to heat and moisture, products based on bisphenyl diisocyanate (MDl) are also used. These include Vanchem HM-4346 and Rubinate 9480 (Huntsman). These are typically used at 3-7 phr levels in plastisols for coating polyester fabric. The second or subsequent coats should contain titanium dioxide and UV light stabilizer for outdoor service. With translucent products, an aliphatic isocyanate such as Desmodur N-lOO or TMl META (Cytec) should be used. 

In order to maintain the advantage of the microfabrication approach which is intended for a reproducible production of multiple devices, parallel development of membrane deposition technology is of importance. Using modified on-wafer membrane deposition techniques and commercially available compounds an improvement of the membrane thickness control as well as the membrane adhesion can be achieved. This has been presented here for three electrochemical sensors - an enzymatic glucose electrode, an amperometric free chlorine sensor and a potentiometric Ca + sensitive device based on a membrane modified ISFET. Unfortunately, the on-wafer membrane deposition technique could not yet be applied in the preparation of the glucose sensors for in vivo applications, since this particular application requires relatively thick enzymatic membranes, whilst the lift-off technique is usable only for the patterning of relatively thin membranes. 

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