Due to its high specific adhesion, Curabond is an ideal choice as a binder for rubber crumb, or indeed other recycled particulate or short staple fibre materials delivering outstanding results.
Whereas most conventional thermoplastic powders do not meet the necessary requirements of this application such as not 'cracking' when flexed, we have achieved a technically excellent product using a powder to rubber crumb ratio as low as 10 - 15%. This is due to the excellent cohesive strength of our Curabond along with a heat stable binding system.
The Curabond and rubber crumb can be easily dry bended and applied as a homogenous mix using standard powder application equipment or, by the use of more than one application head, a layered or laminated product can be made.
This development makes the manufacture of rubber sheet and mat from powder formulations a clean and simple option.
Curabond is finding many new and varied applications including use in the carpet tile and rubber mat industry and has potential for applications such as polyurethane foam or wood based recycled products where a dry binding system is desirable using temperature time and pressure as the parameters and without any external catalysts. There are also possibilities for part manufacturing a component which can be fully cross-linked and moulded further downstream in the production process.