The Germany-based company said its one-component laminating adhesive Liofol Fast One LA 1640-21 features an extremely fast cure, combined with high initial bond strength.
It also contains no free isocyanates which can leach from packaging into food if the curing process during manufacture is not carried out properly.
“Our goal was to develop an adhesive that would enable just-in-time manufacturing of flexible packages,” said Georg Kinzelmann, corporate technical director and head of R&D. “With this unique one-component PUR laminating adhesive Liofol Fast One, curing is substantially reduced to just a few days, compared to a curing time of up to two weeks with a conventional adhesive”.
This combined with a higher initial tack enables packaging manufacturers to bundle printing, lamination and cutting in one single step, said the firm.
“These technical benefits create significant competitive advantages by increasing flexibility across the whole processing chain,” said Henkel. “In addition to time saving, the reduction of warehousing costs and lower capital employed are key benefits that will be immediately apparent to converters.”
Lowers migration risk
The company said the lack of isocyanates also reduces the potential for migration into packaged foods.
“If the adhesive is not fully cured when the package is filled, the remaining isocyanate monomers can migrate into the food and react with the water to form primary aromatic amines," it added. "With this adhesive, the formation of primary aromatic amines is avoided right from the beginning."
Furthermore the firm said, Liofol Fast One is comfortably within the specific migration limit (SML). The laminating adhesive is toxicologically safe in terms of Risk Phrase and therefore no R40 labeling is necessary.