Crosslinking

Note: Our new product information for Di-Cup^®, Vul-Cup^®, Liqua-Cup^®, Link-Cup^® and ECHO^® is in the process of being added to the site.  Please check back if you don't find what you need.  If you have questions about any of our products, contact our customer service at 1-800-331-7654 for US and Asia, or Jamila Fakkir at 33 1 49 00 88 89 or Aminata Barro at 33 1 49 00 88 05 for Europe.

Arkema’s Functional Additives business is one of the world’s leading suppliers of organic peroxides for the wire and cable, rubber, plastics, and polymerization industries.  Customers are familiar with recognized brands such as Di-Cup®, Vul-Cup® and Luperox® organic peroxides; Liqua-Cup® liquid peroxides; Link-Cup® peroxides; and ECHO® vulcanizing agent.  You can count on Arkema for quality products, technical leadership and innovative solutions.  Review the following pages for more information about organic peroxides in crosslinking and our products.

Organic peroxides can be used alone or combined with free radical multifunctional monomers to perform the crosslinking operation. In rubber, they are an excellent alternative to traditional vulcanization systems (sulfur) to provide Nitrosamine free solutions. They provide rubber and polyolefins with outstanding mechanical, thermal and chemical performance, obtained through the formation of bonds between the rubber chains. This operation is called crosslinking or vulcanization.

A crosslink is a carbon-to-carbon bond between adjacent polymer chains.

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Organic peroxides are acting as free radical source.

Their thermal decomposition generates very active free radicals capable of abstracting a hydrogen atom from the polymer backbone. This is possible both in unsaturated and saturated polymer. Two macroradicals can then recombine to create a direct C-C bond between adjacent polymer chains.

Innovation

• Scorch Protected Luperox^® SP organic peroxide provides outstanding scorch protection and does not cause any loss of crosslinking density.

Benefits

End Product:

• Can be used for both unsaturated and saturated polymers
• Exceptional heat and aging stability
• Excellent compression set, even at high temperature
• Nitrosamine free
• Easy to formulate
• High compound shelf-life
• Wide range of curing speed, high crosslinking density, and various physical forms obtainable.

Markets and Applications

Market	Polymer		End product
Automotive	Elastomers (EPDM, EPM, HNBR, NBR, FKM,...)		Belt, hoses, profiles, O-rings, gaskets
Building / Construction	Elastomers (EPDM, EPM,..) EVA PEX / XLPE		Profiles, flooring and roofing, pipes, rotomolded containers
Cable	Elastomers (EPDM, CPE,...) EVA XLPE		Insulation and semi conductor layers
Sport	EVA		Shoe soles
	PBU		Golf ball cores