ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) is a key driver towards a sustainable future. It can dramatically improve the safety performance, reduce traffic accidents, and extend vehicle lifetimes. Electronic Control Units (ECUs) contain the critical electronic circuits that enable ADAS. Protecting these electronic systems is key for the safety and reliability of the automobile. Traditionally, only silicone adhesives which require heating to cure have been used for case sealing material of ECUs due to their thermal durability and stress relaxation performance. They normally need heating at 150°C for more than 30 minutes to achieve high adhesion performance. This process requires a lot of energy increasing carbon dioxide emissions, larger ovens to accommodate the ECUs, and factory floor space. In order to support our customers’ transition to sustainable mass production processes, Dow has started to develop adhesives that can be cured and bonded at room temperature without a heating oven.

DOWSIL™ EA-47X0 CV Adhesives are unique products combining silicone environmental inertness with robust low temperature adhesion. Unique properties of silicones are used in applications ranging from dielectric gels to high-performance adhesives. They are flexible and inert over a wide temperature range. But that inertness also means special adhesion promoter additives and high temperature cure are required to get robust adhesion to substrates. DOWSIL™ EA-47X0 CV Adhesive is a first of its kind material combining silicone properties with room or low temperature cure to provide robust adhesion.

The product was designed as a two-part package that can be stored at room temperature which also can contribute to energy saving in terms of storage. The components of the adhesive don’t contain RoHS defined hazardous substances. By mixing the two components in a 1:1 ratio, strong adhesion is obtained exceeding 1MPa of adhesion strength within 2 to 24 hours (depending on the substrate) of applying DOWSIL™ EA-47X0 CV.

With strong sustainability-driven customer interest in mind, Dow material scientists followed a unique approach to develop a silicone adhesive forming strong adhesion to different substrates with room temperature cure. The first step focused on adhesion chemistry by screening many adhesion and catalyst combinations. This chemistry was then seamlessly integrated with cure chemistry. By designing products based on this idea, it became possible to optimally control the rate of adhesion development, and finally succeed in developing an ideal adhesive that exhibited high bonding strength even with room temperature curing, solving a pain-point customers had endured for decades.

DOWSIL™ EA-4700CV Adhesive (semi-flowable), DOWSIL™ EA-4710CV Adhesive (flowable) and DOWSIL™ EA-4720CV Adhesive (non-flowable) are now globally available. The differentiated tuned rheology allows customers to choose the best product for application and dispensing needs.

This technology has started to be used in major Tier 1 automotive electronics manufacturers for case sealing of electric devices such as ECU’s for ADAS, and for component fixing in vehicles. Dow is sure that we will not only contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the manufacturing process, but also provide solutions that will accelerate the growing ADAS market, a key device for automotive sustainability.