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New flame-retardant grade: thin, halogen-free PE foam for bonding applications
Adligenswil, Switzerland, July 2025 - Halogen-free yet flame-retardant and flexible: This Alveolit PE foam, launched 2021, is now also available as a thin foam grade of 1 mm.
This innovation from Sekisui Alveo was prompted by the search for PE foams that meet various fire regulation standards and fulfil market requirements on sustainability, namely significantly reduced toxicity while maintaining flexibility and performance properties of the foam.
Toxicity
The new PE foam is free of halogens and heavy metals and is compliant with the requirements of REACH & RoHS. It does not contain any halogenated compounds with heavy metal synergists like combination of polybrominated hydrocarbon with antimony trioxide; many of such substances are extremely durable, accumulate in the environment and are considered carcinogenic.
Fire safety
Extensive testing of this new foam component alone at laboratories of Sekisui Alveo shows compliance with the UL94 HBF (HF-1), ISO 3795 and FMVSS302 horizontal flammability standards as well as with the more stringent vertical flammability criterion EN 13501-1 (Class E). Being a component, compliance with fire regulation standards depend on the final product design and testing under application conditions for final certification. A typical characteristic of this foam component can be observed in case of fire, wherein the foam produces white smoke, which makes the work of rescue teams easier in view of visibility.
‘These halogen-free foams show a reduced conventional index of toxicity compared to their equivalent halogenated counterparts without compromising on flexibility and product performance properties,’ says Satish Palika, Application Development Manager, Adligenswil, Switzerland. ‘We now also offer these flexible foams in a thickness of just 1 mm.’
Adhesive-friendly
This PE foam is uniquely adhesive-friendly and is compatible with various pressure-sensitive adhesives. It enables the industry to develop new products for various mounting and bonding requirements, whether for Industrial e.g. Appliances, Building & Construction e.g. mounting or insulation, transportation e.g. the automotive industry or other bonding applications.
Lightweight
The new PE foam is lighter in area weight than comparable PE based components containing metal oxides or volume increasing materials for equivalent flame-retardant performance as these PE foams.
C2C requirements
These new PE foams are suited to meet the demand of manufacturers to have their final products certified by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. As a component, this halogen-free foam would help to achieve a very good rating over the equivalent component with brominated flame retardants and heavy metals in the final product to be certified.
Availability
Until now, 3 mm to 10 mm were the available thickness ranges within Alveo product family of Alveolit TA HF and Alveolit TL HF foam grades. This TL HF foam grade is now available in a thickness of 1mm. Other thicknesses are possible depending on the application requirements.
Press release 2021: New Foams Meet stringent sustainability requirements.
Alveo®, Alveolit®, Alveolen®, Alveocel®, Alveosoft®, Alveobloc®, Alveosport®, Alveotec® and Evalen® are registered trademarks of Sekisui Alveo AG. The information contained herein is correct to the best of our knowledge and is given in good faith. © Sekisui Alveo, Adligenswil, Switzerland.