KURALOW Technology for Low Temperature Curing Applications

KRYLEX Product Technology Introduction:

Consumer Electronic devices vary hugely in design and appearance depending on the specific manufacturer, the electronic device, and the specific model. Depending on the target use market, the manufacturer may select expensive or cheaper materials for the construction of the device. This diversity of specification and design means that a wide array of materials (metals, plastics, glass, etc.) are used in construction. As each manufacturer strives to make their device both aesthetically pleasing and comfortable to use, it is increasingly common for the selected construction materials to be sensitive to high temperatures. Anodised metal surfaces, many plastics, and different grades of glass are often unable to withstand the high cure temperatures of long-standing traditional heat-cure adhesives. Moreover, new adhesive technologies offering curing at temperatures as low as 80֯C are now at the edge of what can be tolerated due to reliability impacts and thermal fatigue, and thermal budget concerns. The thermal budget is an important concept in the construction of electronic devices. It is used to characterize the susceptibility of processes or process flows to diffusion effects. It is a measure of the thermal energy used in a process flow and is used to determine the remaining temperature-time window at each stage of the process flow.

Often, the solution to achieve adhesive bonding for applications that cannot exceed 80°C is to use alternative cure chemistry adhesives that do not require heating to elevated temperatures. These are typically 2-part adhesives that react rapidly at RT or UV or UV+ dual-cure systems. These alternative chemistries all have drawbacks and limitations and can often not be used:

KURALOW Technology:

KURALOW technology is a unique, ground-breaking, proprietary innovation that enables high reactivity at temperatures as low as 55 ֯C but also highly stable work life at Room Temperature.  The products are formulated to have high adhesion to a wide array of plastics and metals, whilst also delivering excellent reliability performance. The low cure temperatures offer manufacturers the high adhesion and reliability of a heat-reacted adhesive chemistry, but also have the significant benefit of helping to preserve device thermal budget.

KURALOW Technology is able to be supplied both as a thermal-only cure system and also as a dual-cure capable UV + Thermal cure system (see Active Alignment Technical Bulletin).

KE2000 series, ‘Thermal only’ heat cure KURALOW Technology products are available to cure at temperatures as low as 55°C but are also able to offer rapid ‘snap cure’ at elevated temperatures of approximately 100 - 130֯C. Also, depending on the formulation design, the product is stable at ambient conditions for anywhere between 72 hours and several weeks. The KURALOW chemistry platform offers excellent adhesion and reliability performance: -

Benefits of KE2000 Series:

• Excellent dispense characteristics – fine pitch dispensing.
• Jet or needle dispense capable.
• Highly stabilised at Room temperature for long work life.
• Cure at temperatures as low as 55֯c.
• Snap curable at temperatures of 100֯c or greater.
• Excellent adhesion to plastics, metals, and glass.
• Excellent reliability performance (drop/ Temp cycle, etc.).
• ROHS/ REACH Compliant.

Summary:

KURALOW Technology is an innovation that is enabling customers to use much lower cure temperatures than were previously available in a 1-part pre-mixed adhesive system. The novel chemistry adheres well to a variety of high and low surface energy substrates and offers excellent reliability.

For a full list of material properties and details on sample availability, please contact KRYLEX.COM or discuss with your local KRYLEX representative. Alternatively, you can contact Paul Gleeson at pgleeson@chemence.com.

July 7, 2025
Krylex