Sirrus Unveils First New Chemistry Platform for Adhesives, Coatings and Inks in Decades

Sirrus, a manufacturer of high-performance monomers formerly known as Bioformix, has successfully developed a new chemistry platform that promises to transform a range of adhesive, coating, printing and resin applications for the automotive, building and construction, packaging, electronics and other industries. Sirrus’ unique 1,1-disubstituted alkene monomer technology, and the combination of properties it enables, is now being made available for sampling to industrial manufacturing and assembly partners.

Launched under the trade name Chemilian, the monomers, when formulated with other components, facilitate a variety of game-changing product and process improvements. Chemilian-enabled adhesive, coatings and inks do not require external energy sources such as ovens or solvents to activate, simplifying production and saving money. They cure ambiently and bond in minutes, saving time. Formulations can be tuned to each user’s optimal working conditions. Plus, Chemilian-based products can deliver superior chemical and temperature resistance, low odor, optical clarity and no blooming, all while meeting the demand for environmental suitability, including reducing the need for building block materials including bisphenol-A (BPA), formaldehyde or styrene.

The ability to instantly bond dissimilar materials from glass to metals to polycarbonate, while delivering superior performance and durability, is what will interest many potential Chemilian customers.

“As a step-change in technology, Chemilian is an invitation to industrial customers of all types to think about their assembly and manufacturing processes in new ways,” says Jeff Sullivan, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Sirrus. “Imagine instantly adhering many differing components with all the requisite performance properties, without ovens or solvent. These are the kinds of possibilities that we hope to explore with customers in industries as diverse as building materials and automotive coatings.”

To this point, chemists and engineers recognized the great potential of 1,1-disubstituted alkene monomers, but commercialization has been unsuccessful. The monomers can be generated in a lab but bulk manufacture has been unattainable due to stabilization challenges.

The Sirrus team of process engineers and synthetic chemists has developed a process for large-scale, efficient processing. Because of their chemical structure, these monomers can be tailored for a variety of properties to suit a range of applications.