From Monomer to Market: How Foam Adhesive Tapes Are Made

ORAFOL develops foam adhesive tapes (UHB) entirely in-house – from the raw materials to tailor-made products for the most demanding applications. R&D Scientist Lucas Patzlaff has accompanied this process since his bachelor’s thesis, from the laboratory to market launch.

Transformers are the heart of our power supply. Around the clock, they convert voltage and ensure that the lights stay on. Conditions inside transformers are demanding: oil, heat, high currents – yet all components must remain securely bonded and sealed. How is this achieved? With a foam adhesive tape, also known as acrylic foam or Ultra High Bond (UHB).

“Thanks to their unique properties, our acrylic foams can withstand loads that would cause screws or rivets to fail,” says Lucas Patzlaff, R&D Scientist Adhesive Tape Systems (ATS) in Business Development. He should know: ever since his bachelor’s and later master’s thesis, he has been involved in the development of UHB products at ORAFOL. Rather than simply converting foam adhesive tapes, the ATS division now manufactures them entirely in-house for the first time. It all begins with monomers.

It All Starts with a Monomer

A monomer is a tiny, spherical molecule. Under the right conditions – such as heat and pressure – it links together with other monomers to form long chains known as polymers. These polymers are the basis of virtually all synthetic plastics, including acrylic foam. To ensure that the final product reliably bonds, cushions, seals, and remains durable, everything has to be right during polymerization, the chain-forming reaction itself. “Factors such as temperature and pressure influence the structure of the polymer. This determines how flexible, shear-resistant, or UV-resistant the acrylic foam will ultimately be,” explains Lucas Patzlaff. “That’s why it is essential for us to have full control over the formulation and quality of our products from the very first step of production.”

A few years ago, ORAFOL therefore decided to begin synthesizing polymers in-house rather than purchasing them from suppliers.

Properties of ORABOND® UHB Tapes:

High shear strength
Temperature resistant
Solvent-free
Resistant to water, salt, oil, gasoline, and UV radiation
Available in high thicknesses
Viscoelastic
Resistant to dynamic loads
Available in colored and highly transparent versions

From Internship to Independent Project

Lucas Patzlaff happened to apply for an internship at ORAFOL at exactly the right time during his chemical engineering studies. “There had already been a bachelor’s thesis at ORAFOL on synthesizing polymers on a laboratory scale, but none on whether and how the process could work under industrial production conditions. That challenge became part of my internship and later my bachelor’s thesis.” Working with monomers is demanding. They are classified as hazardous substances because they are irritating, reactive, and highly flammable. Polymerization can also generate significant amounts of heat. “We had to master entirely new safety requirements. After countless evaluations in the laboratory and in our pilot plant, our manufacturing process ultimately met all of our specifications,” says Patzlaff.

From Polymer to Acrylic Foam

The result is a syrup-like liquid that already contains key product characteristics but has not yet been fully polymerized. The final stage of chemical crosslinking takes place on the coating line. Exposure to UV light causes the polymer chains to link together, forming acrylic foam. Here, too, the ATS division wanted to take a new approach and searched for a cost-effective and sustainable solution for this energy-intensive process. “Traditionally, mercury lamps are used for curing. From our perspective, that was neither sustainable nor future-proof,” says Patzlaff.

Supported by Federal Funding

Mercury lamps have a short service life, consume large amounts of energy, and are costly to operate. Lucas Patzlaff was also not entirely satisfied with the quality of crosslinking achieved in the acrylic foam. He began to wonder: Could LEDs do the job? “On paper, LEDs offered nothing but advantages over mercury lamps. The problem was that there were no suitable solutions available for our specific application. So we created one ourselves,” he explains. Using several self-built prototypes, he conducted extensive tests and then worked together with Process Engineering and an equipment manufacturer to develop custom LED modules for UV curing on the coating line. This process technology is entirely new – not only for ORAFOL, as Dr. Felix Limberg, Head of R&D Adhesive Tape Systems, explains: “The use of LED UV lamps represents fundamental chemical research. This innovation positions both ORAFOL and Germany as pioneers in the global market. That is why the federal government supported our project with funding.”

Ready for Industrial-Scale Production

LED technology enables a more efficient production process, with service lives exceeding ten years. Its controllability also provides greater flexibility for precisely tailoring polymer crosslinking.

Today, UHB products are manufactured on an industrial scale on the new coating line in Hall 10.

“The line includes a dedicated dryer equipped with a UV section that can operate alternately with the existing dryer. This means we do not need a separate production line and can bring the new products into regular production much more quickly,” says Dr. Limberg.

From the Laboratory to the Market

What ultimately emerges from the coating line looks more ordinary than it actually is: a thick, foam-like, homogeneous adhesive tape designed for the most demanding applications. For Lucas Patzlaff, the journey continues in Business Development at ORAFOL: “Now I talk to customers about an entire product class that I helped develop in the laboratory.”