Henkel’s (Stamford, CT) new REACh compliant Bonderite products for etch passivation and corrosion protection are chromium-free, allow the toxicity labeling to be removed and reduce the user’s carbon footprint thanks to fewer active steps. In addition, they also provide significant reductions in product and water consumption. In its efforts to replace hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) compounds in metal surface treatment, Henkel started to develop alternative technologies many years ago. Today, the company offers a rich portfolio of high-quality conversion products. Moreover, the company has been focusing on reducing the complexity of conversion processes by minimizing the number of required process steps. The latest new developments in this area to be highlighted include the following three products:
- Bonderite C-IC 65001: a non-toxic labeled one-component product with the same bath build-up properties, treatment time and etch rate as the already existing products, thus providing a direct drop-in solution. Apart from minimizing the risks for operators and facilitating both transportation and storage, the new formulation offers high and stable etch rates even with dissolved aluminum up to 6 g/L and can cut consumption by about 50 percent compared to the previous one-component product.
- Bonderite M-NT 2040 R9 is Henkel’s immediate chromium-free and non-toxic labeled conversion treatment alternative to yellow and green chromating processes, since conversions to this product require no modification in the pretreatment line. In addition, as it allows users to combine etching, degreasing and passivation in one process step, it minimizes the required number of baths and rinsing steps as well as the length of pretreatment. In some cases, the typical de-ionized rinse before the conversion step can be replaced with a conventional tap water rinse.
- Bonderite M-NT 65000 was originally developed for aluminum alloy components for the aerospace industry and sets new benchmarks for corrosion protection, paint adhesion and low electrical contact resistance. As a REACh compliant, non-toxic labeled and hexachromium-free conversion product, it offers a convenient, efficient and sustainable alternative to conventional chromium VI based aluminum surface treatment processes.
