Even with the rapid development and advancement in UV curing technology, too many people still equate UV-cured adhesives with a lower-quality product that lacks the performance and reliability of traditional solvent-based adhesives.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Today’s UV-cured adhesives for long-term print applications offer comparable — or in some cases even greater — durability and reliability compared to solvent-based solutions, especially in outdoor applications with fluctuations in moisture, humidity, and temperature. Plus, UV-cured adhesives significantly reduce your carbon footprint by eliminating the need for harsh chemicals.
Nekoosa’s Product Development Manager Bryan Baab sat down with us to examine this new generation of eco-friendly adhesives, and how NextBond® UV-cured adhesive from Nekoosa provides a cost-effective, reliable alternative to solvent-based adhesives.
One of the misconceptions about UV adhesives is that they don’t provide the print quality and clarity of their solvent-based counterparts. This just isn’t true, right?
This is one of the more common misconceptions about UV adhesives, but the truth is that the UV-curing process actually creates a final product that is cleaner than solvent-based curing and free from blemishes like dirt or ash. Unlike solvent adhesives, UV does not require a long ovens for drying during the manufacturing process. This helps enhance the transparency and clarity of the graphic over the course of its service life.
This is one of the many areas where NextBond® by Nekoosa really shines. Our advanced adhesive formula prevents clouding or fogging when applied wet and maintains crystal-clear transparency throughout the lifetime of the print application — even when exposed to intense sunlight.
Let’s talk about durability and reliability. How do UV-cured adhesives compare to solvent adhesives?
Reliable, durable adhesion in a wide range of applications or environmental conditions is one of the biggest technological leaps in UV adhesives. UV technology can create adhesion that rivals or even surpasses that of solvent adhesives with the same variety in application surfaces — and especially more challenging application surfaces like low surface energy plastics, textured walls, concrete, and polished stone.
And UV adhesives can offer the same level of performance in both indoor and outdoor applications, including applications with extreme variances in temperature.
For example, NextBond® by Nekoosa forms a strong, stable bond on a wide variety of challenging indoor and outdoor application surfaces, and it maintains its strength even when exposed to moisture, humidity, temperature fluctuations, and chemicals. We’ve sourced the highest-quality face films and liners to create a portfolio of specialty printable films, overlaminates, and mounting films that are only available at Nekoosa.
An important feature in choosing a graphic adhesive is the speed and ease of the installation and removal process. What do these processes look like with UV adhesives?
Agreed — clean, quick, and mess-free installation and removal are very important qualities in selecting the right graphic adhesive. Most UV adhesives offer a fairly quick and simple installation and removal process with minimal mess or tools. NextBond® UV-cured adhesive offers two distinct adhesive options to suit the widest range of applications possible: permanent and high-peel removable.
NextBond® can be applied wet or dry, providing flexibility for installers. The high-peel removable option ensures clean removal from the application surface within six months of initial application, making it a reliable choice for temporary graphics and promotional displays.
Many UV adhesives position themselves as a sustainable alternative to solvent-based adhesives, but there’s often a lack of specificity on the overall environmental impact of choosing UV-cured adhesives.
That’s a good point, and it’s something that we were very aware of when developing and launching NextBond® UV-cured adhesive. This is why we engineered NextBond® with sustainability, health, and safety in mind.
The NextBond® manufacturing process eliminates the need for driers, reducing energy consumption while cutting CO2 emissions by 50%. Free from VOCs and solvent emissions, NextBond® is a non-toxic, non-flammable solution that meets OSHA, EPA, and CARB compliance standards.
This clean formula makes NextBond® ideal for printed graphics in sensitive environments such as the medical and food sectors, ensuring both safety and performance without compromise.
With NextBond®, we’re proud to be setting a new standard for eco-friendly solutions that don’t sacrifice reliability and performance. NextBond® UV-cured is a durable adhesive that delivers a smarter, more sustainable solution for long-term printed applications.
Thank you to Bryan for giving us a better look at UV adhesives and Nekoosa’s NextBond® UV-cured graphic adhesive.
Request your sample of NextBond® today!
Bryan Baab is Nekoosa’s Product Development Manager - Wide Format. He has been part of the Nekoosa team for the last two years.
