26 March 2018

Advantages of dual cure technology in

automotive interior finishes.
Paul Gevaert

www.allnex.com
Principles and Advantages of DUAL CURE TECHNOLOGY (1)

Conventional 2K (NCO- OH) UV curing (Acrylates)

Liquid mixture

Oligomers
Monomers UV
Photoinitiator < 0.1 second
Temperature
Catalyst
Time

DRY FILM

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Principles and Advantages of DUAL CURE TECHNOLOGY (2)
Conventional 2K SB (NCO- OH) UV Curing
+ Full cure for difficult shape of part + Fast cure (high productivity)
+ Lower shrinkage + High scratch & chemical resistance
+ Limited space needed
- Space and time
- Slow cure - 3D shape => NO UV = NO Cure
- High energy consumption for drying - More shrinkage
(adhesion sometimes challenging)

+ Fast cure (high productivity)

+ Low shrinkage – good adhesion
+ Good scratch & chemical resistance
+ 3D shape: NO UV = Cure (NCO-OH)
+ Less space occupation 26 March 2018 3
 Principles and Advantages of DUAL CURE TECHNOLOGY (3)
OH Functional Acrylated Resin + multifunctional NCO

Step 1: Thermal

Step 2: UV

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 Principles and Advantages of DUAL CURE TECHNOLOGY (4)
OH Functional Acrylated Resin + NCO Functional Acrylate

Step 1: Thermal

Step 2: UV

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Example of formulation and application

Component I wt % • Components I and II are mixed just before

application
OH Functional Acrylated resin 43.8
Butylacetate 19.4
• Viscosity @ 25°C ~200 mPa.s
MODAFLOW® 9200 0.7
• Solid content ~58 %
Photoinitiator (CPK)* 4 • Substrate: plastic panel
Catalyst** 0.02 • Target dry film thickness (DFT): 20 g/m²
• 30’ @ 80°C: flash off and thermal step***
• UV curing: 2 x 10 m/min. with 120 W/cm Hg lamp
Component II wt %
(~2000 mJ/cm²)
NCO Functional Acrylate 56.2
• Testing after 1 week storage at room temperature
Butylacetate 21.2

*1-hydroxy-cyclohexylphenyl-ketone ***to be adjusted by the amount of catalyst to the requirements of

**Dibutyltindilaurate (DBTL) the line/machine

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Substrates

• The below plastics substrates & their grade names are widely used in
automotive interior applications:
Type Grade
ABS ABS Magnum 3616 (DOW)

Bayblend T65 (COVESTRO)

Bayblend T65 XF (COVESTRO)

ABS/PC
Bayblend T85 (COVESTRO)
Bayblend T85 XF (COVESTRO)

PC Lexan 9030 (SABIC)

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Physical & Mechanical Testing

- Hardness: Persoz pendulum on glass (seconds)

- Abrasion: Taber Haze (100-300-500 cycles on PC sheet with 500g load)

- Elasticity testing: mandrel test (on PC sheet)

- Cross hatch adhesion

- Erichsen (Erichsen pen 318 with tip of 0.75 mm)

(- Martindale microscratching)

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Chemical & Thermal testing

- Sun lotion & hand cream test (Volkswagen test PV3964):

Sun lotion and hand cream are applied on a bandage.

•The sample is put in a ventilated oven for 24 hours at 80°C.
•Bandage is removed and the remnant of cream/lotion is wiped
off with a tissue.
•The sample is left for 4 hours at room temperature.
=> cross cut adhesion
=> Erichsen

- Humidity resistance: VW TL 226 Aging stability

=> hydrolysis (72 h, 90 °C, 95 % humidity)
=> Cross hatch adhesion after humidity test
9
26 March 2018
Overview requirements Automotive Interior

Testing Requirement Criteria

Cross Hatch Adhesion (CHA) 0 = NO Adhesion; 5 = FULL Adhesion

ERICHSEN scratch/adhesion (PEN 318) 20 N (indentation allowed; NO rupture of film)

Taber Haze (CS10F) Haziness value: the lower the better

CHA = 5
Sun lotion (~VW PV3964) Erichsen: 20 N
Apprearance (film attacked yes/no) & Gloss retention
CHA = 5
Hand cream (~VW PV3964) Erichsen: 20 N
Appearance (film attacked yes/no) & Gloss retention
CHA = 5
Humidity Resistance (~VW TL 226 )
Appearance (No haze)

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Isocyanate - bearing acrylates

Products Dilution Acrylate Viscosity NCO % Use

Functionality at 25°C
(mPas)
Good chemical and mechanical
NCO-bearing acrylate 1 10 BA 2 17000 7.00
resistance, hard
NCO-bearing acrylate 2 45 EA 2 125 4.30 High chemical resistance
NCO-bearing acrylate 3 - 1 14000 7.50 Improved flexibility and adhesion
Further improvement of
NCO-bearing acrylate 4 - 1 11000 6.75 flexibility and adhesion compared
to NCO acrylate 3
BA = Butyl Acetate; EA = Ethyl Acetate

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Formulations with Isocyanate-bearing acrylates

Component I
OH Functional Acrylated resin 44.7 33.2 46.4 43.8
Butylacetate 14.5 5.3 15.0 19.4
MODAFLOW® 9200 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7
Photoinitiator (CPK) 4 4 4 4
Catalyst (DBTL) 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02

Component II 1 2 3 4
NCO Bearing Acrylate 55.3 66.8 53.6 56.2
Butylacetate 20.5 - 27.5 21.2

Note: excess of 5% NCO on OH

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Hardness & scratch resistance

Worse 20 FLEXIBLE HARD

Taber Haze (500 cycles) NCO Acrylate 2

15
NCO Acrylate 4
NCO Acrylate 1

10 NCO Acrylate 3

Better
5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Persoz Hardness (seconds)

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Chemical Resistance (1)

OH Functional acrylated resin

NCO acrylate 1 NCO acrylate 2 NCO acrylate 3 NCO acrylate 4
ABS MAGNUM 3616
Before
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity
PC Lexan 9030
Before
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity

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Chemical Resistance (2)
OH Functional acrylated resin
NCO acrylate 1 NCO acrylate 2 NCO acrylate 3 NCO acrylate 4
ABS/PC Bayblend T65
Before
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity
ABS/PC Bayblend T65 XF
Before
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity
ABS/PC Bayblend T85 XF
Before
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity

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Balancing Properties
Better Worse CHEMICAL &
HUMIDITY RESISTANCE
Better Worse ADHESION

Lower Higher HARDNESS

Worse 20
NCO Acrylate
Taber Haze (500 cycles)

2
15 NCO Acrylate
4 NCO Acrylate
1
NCO Acrylate
10
3

Better
5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Persoz Hardness (seconds)
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Impact of drying conditions and catalyst amount (1)
(OH functional acrylated resin + NCO bearing acrylate 4)
30’ – 80°C 10’ – 80°C 10’ – 80°C
0.02% DBTL 0.02% DBTL 0.1% DBTL
Thermal drying 30 min 80°C Tack free Tack free Tack free
Taber haze 100 cycles 4 4 4
300 cycles 9 8 8
500 cycles 14 13 13
Persoz Hardness (sec) 149 148 170
Mandrel flexibility on PC (mm diam) <=3 <= 3 <= 3
Erichsen (20N) (ABS Magnum 3616) Pass Borderline 15N
ADHESION cross hatch (0 = no adhesion; 5 = full adhesion)
ABS Magnum 3616 5 5 5
ABS/PC Bayblend T65 5 5 5
ABS/PC Bayblend T65 XF 5 5 5
ABS/PC Bayblend T85 XF 5 5 5
PC(9030) 5 5 5

Reducing drying time has little impact on base properties.

Increased catalyst amount increases Persoz hardness but scratch adhesion (Erichsen) is reduced!

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 Impact of drying conditions and catalyst amount (2)
(OH functional acrylated resin + NCO bearing acrylate 4)

30’ – 80°C 10’ – 80°C 10’ – 80°C 30’ – 80°C 10’ – 80°C 10’ – 80°C
0.02% DBTL 0.02% DBTL 0.1% DBTL 0.02% DBTL 0.02% DBTL 0.1% DBTL
ABS/PC Bayblend T65 XF ABS MAGNUM 3616
Before Before
Sun lotion Sun lotion
Hand cream Hand cream
Humidity Humidity
ABS/PC Bayblend T85 XF PC Lexan 9030
Before Before
Sun lotion Sun lotion
Hand cream Hand cream
Humidity Humidity

Reducing drying time has little impact on chemical and humidity resistance .
Increased catalyst amount has a detrimental effect on hydrolysis resistance!

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Impact of drying conditions and catalyst amount (3)
(OH functional acrylated resin + NCO bearing acrylate 4)

200 ppm
1000 ppm

500 ppm

=> Increased pot life being able to use less catalyst

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 Comparing SB 2K with SB UV 2K (1)
SB 2K SB UV 2K
Hydroxyl Hydroxyl functional acrylated resin
functional acrylic + Multifunctional + NCO bearing
resin NCO 2 acrylate 4
+ Multifunctional NCO 1
Thermal drying 10 min 80°C Tack free* Tack free Tack free Tack free
Persoz Hardness (sec) 253 318 184 148
Mandrel flexibility on PC (mm diam) ≤3 16 ≤3 ≤3
Taber haze 100 cycles 17 4 4 4
300 cycles 28 9 8 8
500 cycles --- 13 13 13
*The conventional SB coating was tack-free after solvent evaporation but not block-free, even with 1000 ppm of DBTL. With 1000 ppm of
DBTL and the thermal step increased to 30 minutes, the film was harder (Persoz increased to 300 seconds) and block-free, but adhesion to
all substrates was lost!

=> UV curing increases substantially abrasion resistance

26 March 2018 20
Comparing SB 2K with SB UV 2K (2)
SB 2 K SB UV 2 K
Hydroxyl Functional Hydroxyl functional acrylated resin
acrylic resin
+ Multifunctional NCO 1 + Multifunctional NCO 2 + NCO bearing acrylate 4
ABS MAGNUM 3616
Adhesion
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity
ABS/PC BAYBLEND T65 XF
Adhesion
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity
PC LEXAN 9030
Adhesion
Sun lotion
Hand cream
Humidity

=> Using NCO bearing acrylates further enhances performance!

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Conclusion

• Different combinations of UV curable products enable to formulate ideal solutions for

automotive interior:
Homogeneous curing also in non irradiated areas
Excellent adhesion to ABS, PC, ABS/PC blends

Good overall chemical resistance (sun lotion and hand cream test)

Outstanding abrasion resistance (combined with good flexibility)

Hydrolytic stability

• Drying conditions (e.g. catalyst amount) may impact end performance!

• NCO functional acrylates NOT impacted by NCO restrictions!
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 26 March 2018

THANK YOU!
paul.gevaert@allnex.com

www.allnex.com
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