CASE Chemicals: Trends, Innovations, and Challenges
Collection of CASE Chemicals Testing Methods
On the Move: How the CASE Industry Advances Product Performance and Sustainability
Recent supply chain issues have necessitated raw materials supplier changes, additional layers of materials testing and formulation pivots in order to keep up CASE materials and CASE chemicals production levels. Because CASE chemicals, AKA CASE materials, are important to all facets of global industrial and consumer product manufacturing. Coatings, adhesives, sealants, and elastomers are critically important to provide performance, protection, operation, and strength and durability to support and broad range of industries like building and construction, automotive, aerospace, packaging, and marine environments.
The formulations and varieties of CASE chemicals are almost endless as manufacturers constantly evolve to innovate new products. For example, factors like the depletion of natural resources has given rise to replacing petroleum-based chemicals and materials with green chemistry and sustainable materials like bio-based and water-borne products. In addition to being more sustainable to produce, these products reduce the uptake of harmful chemicals and materials into the environment.
Regardless of categorization as traditional or trending bio-based; CASE chemicals producers have many common challenges like accurately identifying and qualifying raw materials, developing robust and reliable methods for manufacturing QA/QC, adhering to regulatory compliance and ensuring intended end-market quality and performance formulation needs. Ensuring quality requires analyses throughout the chemical production cycle, from raw materials testing to evaluating samples for formulation, weathering and corrosion resistance, dry time, film thickness, flexural strength, and VOC testing, among others. Discover our analyses and applications for chemicals manufacturers.
Coatings are critical to provide protective, functional or decorative properties to the surface, or substrate of almost everything we use. Coatings are functional and can be applied as gases, liquids or solids and some coatings alter a product’s surface properties. One example of an important industrial coating is seen in the semiconductor and electronics industry, which utilizes light sensitive polymer coatings called photoresist, to completely alter the semiconductor wafer surface and enable control over doping and etching processes. Other functional coatings can change substrate properties like their adhesion, corrosion resistance and more.
Adhesives are important to many industries such as construction, alternative energy production structures like wind power, packaging product safety tapes, and the transportation industry like manufacturing stronger, safer vehicles due to adhesives’ impact-absorbing properties. Research and development (R&D) innovate new substances across their physical forms of pastes, liquids, films and pellets, their chemical forms of epoxy, polyurethane or polyimide and their classification as hot melt(s), thermosetting, pressure sensitive or contact. Manufacturers QA/QC test their raw materials and intermediates, especially in these times of supply chain issues and investigating potential new suppliers.During formulation, through production and final testing, analyses are carried out depending on the adhesive’s intended end-use, modifying formulations to meet market trends, changing regulations, and other factors.
Sealants are important to many industries to prevent gas or liquid from passing into, out of or through a surface by creating “airtight” or “waterproof” seals. Physically reactive, non-reactive and chemically reactive sealants can also provide thermal and acoustical insulation, can possess electrical properties, and can also be used for simple smoothing or filling. Manufacturers QA/QC test their raw materials and intermediates, especially in these times of supply chain issues and investigating potential new suppliers. During formulation, through production and final testing, analyses are carried out depending on the sealants intended end-use, modifying formulations to meet market trends, changing regulations, and other factors.
Elastomers, a subset of polymers or ‘elastic polymers’ are either natural or synthetic and require testing for viscosity and elasticity depending on their intended end-use for applications like automotive, electronics, construction, and more.
Manufacturers QA/QC test their raw materials and intermediates, especially in these times of supply chain issues and investigating potential new suppliers. During formulation and mixing, through production, final testing, and packaging, analyses are carried out depending on the elastomers’ intended end-use, modifying formulations to meet market trends, changing regulations, and other factors.
CASE Chemicals: Trends, Innovations, and Challenges
Collection of CASE Chemicals Testing Methods
On the Move: How the CASE Industry Advances Product Performance and Sustainability
CASE Chemicals Testing & Foundational Solutions
Collection of CASE Chemicals Analysis Webinars
Green Building Materials Analysis with UV/Vis-NIR and Infrared Analytical Solution
Evaluation of Epoxy Quality by Determination of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
HPLC: Analysis of Acrylate Monomers
Use of FTIR to Characterize and Monitor the Curing of Sealants
Evolved Gas Analysis for the Identification of Paint Components
Time-Resolved FTIR studies of Adhesives and Paints
Speciation of Hexavalent Chromium in Children's Toys According to EN 71-3 Category II with the NexSAR HPLC-ICP-MS
Polymers & Plastics
Automotive
Glass, Optics & Coatings
Semiconductor & Electronics
Solar
Chromatography
Molecular Spectroscopy
Atomic Spectroscopy
Thermal Analysis
Hyphenated Technology
Solutions & Applications
Lab Workflow Solutions
Consumables & Accessories
Laboratory Services