Jul 3 2007
The success story of VINNAPAS® polymer powders began 50 years ago at the Burghausen facilities of WACKER, the German chemicals group. Derived from vinyl acetate and ethylene, VINNAPAS® binders are vital to the manufacture of modern dry-mix mortars and give them an unparalleled range of properties: adhering to all kinds of substrates and with extremely low emissions, these binders improve workability and impart flexibility and weatherability. Their versatility opens up a broad array of construction-industry applications – including modified tile adhesives, one-part sealing slurries, and modern exterior insulation systems.
For exactly 50 years, WACKER has been manufacturing dispersible polymer powders to meet modern construction needs. VINNAPAS® polymer powders are thermoplastic, plasticizer-free polymers derived primarily from vinyl acetate and ethylene. After many years of research, WACKER chemists succeeded in 1957 in industrially manufacturing the first powder binder as an additive for construction mortars. That same year, the first spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders started operating at WACKER’s parent plant in Burghausen.
This invention revolutionized the entire construction sector, because it finally made possible the production of one-part, pre-mixed dry mortars that merely needed reconstituting with water at the building site. To this very day, polymer powders give the construction industry key benefits, such as major cost savings, not to mention greatly simplified mortar production and handling.
WACKER POLYMERS is since a global market and technology leader in the field of vinyl acetate-based copolymers and terpolymers – marketed worldwide under the VINNAPAS® brand. When water is added, these spray-dried dispersions “redisperse,” while retaining all the properties and functions typical of a liquid polymer dispersion. As the mortar sets, flexible polymer bridges are formed between the brittle mineral constituents of the mortar, producing a polymer film that acts as an organic binder. This greatly improves the mortar’s adhesion to a wide range of substrates. Those polymer bridges also increase the system’s flexibility.
VINNAPAS® polymer powders and dispersions are used in diverse building applications such as exterior insulation and finish systems, construction and tile adhesives, screeds, self-leveling flooring compounds, plasters, repair mortars, grouts and cementitious sealing slurries. They enhance important end-product properties, such as adhesion, cohesion, flexibility and flexural strength. Water retention, processing properties and weatherability benefit from VINNAPAS®, too.