Adhesives

Adhesives are widely used as the assembly means of metals, glass, wood, paper, fibers, rubber, and plastics, and play an irreplaceable role in many fields. The deformulation of adhesive is a method to determine the nature and quantity of its components (resins, additives, fillers, crosslinkers...) with the help of various chemical analysis techniques. It is indispensable in most cases because the adhesive performance is directly related to its components. Alfa Chemistry has the expertise to solve adhesive challenges and provides comprehensive deformulation analysis services to a wide range of industries, companies and individuals. Therefore, we can successfully deformulate the most difficult adhesives materials. Our deformulation service enables a better understanding of the structural problems of the adhesive, while also characterizing its defective quality (adhesion problems, detachment problems...). It is also useful for a range of purposes such as product development, product duplication, patent infringement investigation, product failure analysis, contamination identification, etc.

Meet Our Services

Alfa Chemistry's deformulation lab has the ability to test a wide range of adhesive products. And we perform customized extractions and specialized instrumental techniques to identify and quantify the ingredients or composition. In this regard, we offer multiple levels of deformulation service.

According to different classification methods, adhesive products we deformulate are (including but not limited to):

• Classification by structure: Thermosetting adhesives, thermoplastic adhesives, elastomeric adhesives, solvent-based adhesives, water-based adhesives, self-adhesive adhesives, contact adhesives, etc.
• Classification by curing method: One-part adhesives (heat activated curing adhesives, light/UV activated curing adhesives, moisture activated curing adhesives, pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA), hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive (HMPSA), hot melt adhesives…), two-part adhesives, etc.
• Classification by origin: Synthetic adhesives (adhesives made of epoxies, polyurethanes, cyanoacrylates, polyimides, phenolics, silicones, acrylics, polyamides, styrene-butadiene, polyacrylates, polyvinyl acetate (PVA), nitrile, neoprene…), and natural adhesives (adhesives made of animal glue, casein, fish glue, vegetable-based glues, natural rubber (latex) glue, starch derivatives…).

Overall, no matter what type of adhesives you have, Alfa Chemistry can provide you with a deformulation service. It is worth noting that we can perform deformulation service on both solid adhesive specimens and liquid adhesive specimens.

Ingredients contained in adhesive products we test include, but are not limited to:

• Various primary resins: Polyester, urethane, epoxy, silicone, acrylate, polysulfide, polyimide, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), phenol, polybenzimidazole, polyquinoxazoline, polyphenylquinoxazoline, bismaleimide, polyvinylalchol, cyanoacrylate, polyene, polythiol, styrene block copolymers, polyamide, fibrin, gelatin, polyurethane, rubber latex, nitrile-phenol, vinyl phenol, etc.
• Various solvents: Aliphatic hydrocarbons and mixture, aromatic hydrocarbons, glycol ether, esters, ketones, water and others.
• Various fillers: Aluminum, silver, carbon black, graphite, copper, nickel, iron, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, aluminum oxide, lead, mica, phenolic microspheres, silica sand, silicon carbide, titanium dioxide, zinc, calcium carbonate, clay, iron oxides, glass fiber, etc.
• Others: Various reinforcements, humectants, waxes, plasticizers, solid additives and others.

Our adhesives deformulation capabilities include, but are not limited to:

Techniques and Instruments

Alfa Chemistry uses various techniques and instruments for adhesives deformulation, including but not limited to:

How We Proceed?

Please kindly note that our products and services are for research use only.