2023 Polyurethane Innovation Awards shortlist announced

On August 10, 2023, the Center for the Polyurethane Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council announced that SikaForce®-840 L07 from Sika and WANNATE® 9131FC from Wanhua Chemical were shortlisted for this year's Polyurethane Innovation Award. This annual honor recognizes the innovative newest commercial technology within the polyurethane industry. These finalists have achieved amazing innovations in the polyurethane industry that will solve challenges across multiple industries.

The award will be presented to the winners during the 65th Polyurethanes Technology Conference, September 25-27 in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

The Polyurethanes Innovation Awards provide an opportunity to recognize visionary and breakthrough achievements in the polyurethane industry. Lee Salamone, Senior Director, Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI), said: "Since the first Polyurethanes Innovation Awards were presented in 2006, polyurethane technology has evolved rapidly, helping to solve some of the most challenging problems, including energy efficiency and sustainability. This year's finalists The winners have driven the development of the industry with their cutting-edge products. We congratulate Sika and Wanhua Chemical for being shortlisted for this year's finalists and look forward to their presentation of their innovations at the conference."

2023 Polyurethane Innovation Awards (Finalists):

SikaForce®-840 L07 from Sika: This is the next-generation evolution of "cured by design" technology. SikaForce®-840 L07 is a flexible structural two-component polyurethane adhesive that cures at room temperature. It is specially designed for bonding composite or coated metal parts and has stable performance over a wide temperature range. The adhesive is characterized by fast curing and high strength. When uncured, it has very good sag and compression properties. SikaForce®-840 L07 is suitable for structural elastic bonding of composite materials (e.g. CFRP, GFRP) or coated metals in transportation and general industry.

Wanhua Chemical’s WANNATE® 9131FC: This is a specially designed adhesive based on polymerized methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI). It is used to make molded wooden pallets. Using WANNATE® 9131FC as a binder to manufacture molded wooden pallets can increase yield, improve product properties (such as mechanical strength, water resistance) and reduce energy consumption. WANNATE® 9131FC allows the use of raw materials such as processed wood waste (vs. logs or new wood) to manufacture wooden pallets, reducing the carbon footprint and enabling a formaldehyde-free process.

Following the opening remarks by the Urethane Innovation Award finalists, attendees of the Urethane Technology Conference will vote for the final recipients of the Urethane Innovation Awards. The final winners will be announced at the Awards Luncheon on the final day of the conference, September 27.