Dow's ADCOTE™ products are water- and solvent-based heat seal coatings and laminating adhesives used to construct packaging and create laminates used in food, medical, pharmaceutical, and industrial applications.
ADCOTE™ heat seal coatings are water-based and solvent-based thermoplastic adhesives exhibiting excellent bond strength to various film, foil, and paper materials. Typically, ADCOTE™ heat seal coatings are applied on a substrate at or near the product's supplied solids level, then allowed to dry. When dried, ADCOTE™ heat seal coatings are nontacky at room temperature and can be activated later via heat and pressure to seal onto another material.
ADCOTE™ heat seal coatings can be used in several applications. They are mainly used to adhere flexible lidding onto food packaging, providing the necessary food contact approvals for contents, including meats, cheeses, vegetables, condiments, and more. ADCOTE™ heat seal coatings also adhere shrink sleeve labels to various bottle shapes and sizes. Some ADCOTE™ heat seal coatings are also breathable, making them ideal for medical packaging applications where sterilization via ethylene oxide, steam, or gamma irradiation is needed.
ADCOTE™ laminating adhesives are two-component, solvent-based, thermoset adhesives based on polyester or polyester urethane chemistry. Before applying to a film or foil substrate, these products are diluted to an appropriate viscosity and solids content. Then they are coated on a web of material, dried, and bonded to a secondary web at a specific nip temperature and pressure. ADCOTE™ adhesives form strong green bonds, enabling packaging to be postprocessed quicker and facilitating less downtime for converters. They also create strong bonds with a variety of common packaging materials, including PET, PE, PP, PVC, nylon, metallized films, coextruded films, foil, and more.
ADCOTE™ laminating adhesives are highly versatile in terms of applications. They are ideal for laminations used in food packaging containing snacks, meats and cheeses, condiments, and frozen foods. ADCOTE™ adhesives may also be used in more demanding food packaging applications, including hot fill, boil-in-bag, and retort packaging. Several grades also feature high chemical resistance, making them ideal for laminates used in packaging for detergents, chemicals, and other challenging liquids. Other grades have been developed with high weathering and heat resistance for laminations used in sailcloth, window film, insulation, and other industrial applications.
