PREPOLYMER ADHESIVES Solutions Made in Australia One-component, polyurethane-based prepolymer adhesives are true all-rounders: Apart from providing high performance and a wide range of adhesion, they also open the door to countless new applications due to their ability to bond many different substrates. At Jowat Australia, they play a very special role in our day-to-day work. Jowat SE’s Australian location in Ingleburn, just south of Sydney, now specializes in a range of these versatile, high-performance bonding solutions. Up until 2019, Jowat Aus- tralia mainly offered hot melt and dispersion adhesives. Then, the decision was made to focus on a new type of product. The change came just in time, as Managing Director Shane Devereaux explains: “At the end of March 2020, Australia closed its borders and initiated a lockdown due to the Covid-19 pan- demic. In spite of these difficult circumstanc- es, our technical account manager, Arne Haas, Australia usually conjures up images of koalas and Sydney— but at Jowat, it makes us think of single- component prepolymer adhesives. 14 worked untiringly with his colleagues, Rod Vella and Andrew Waud, to install, commission and improve our polyurethane prepolymer manufacturing facilities. As a result of this, we were able to put them into operation six months later.” Jowat Australia’s main market segment is timber construction, which has been huge- ly popular in Australia and New Zealand for many years. The benefits of load-bearing glu- lam construction in terms of environmental compatibility, safety and healthy living were recognized at an early stage. With impressive new wood-based buildings springing up everywhere, the industry has made a name for itself far beyond Australia’s borders, leading to more investment in the timber construction sector. In-House Production Until changes were made in the law in 2010, Jowat Australia specialized in offering phe- nolic resorcin-formaldehyde-based products. When the sale of PUR prepolymers was ap- proved, this opened up a whole new world of opportunity for Jowat in the Australian market. As a result, the company started to import the proven and successful Jowapur® range from Swiss manufacturing location in Buchrain. However, the long freight jour- neys halfway around the world were a cause for concern, and a solution was required. “By commissioning our own in-house pro- duction plant, we have managed to overcome this issue and put ourselves in a position to cater to the Australian market more efficiently. Our locally manufactured products give us a unique selling point on the Australian mar- ket,” says Shane Devereaux. Jowat now sells these adhesives both in Australia and beyond, also catering to the New Zealand, Indonesian and Vietnamese markets. The 1C prepolymer adhesives are used for laminating and finger- jointing glued laminated timber, as well as in the production of plywood. Tailored to the Needs of the Market Since 2020, Jowat Australia has been manu- facturing the main product range Jowapur® 681.xx and the thixotropics Jowapur® 677.xx and 676.xx in its own in-house production facility. With exclusive formulations such as Jowapur® 680.02 and 680.03, Jowat supplies bonding solutions for the jointing of 4-milli- meter micro fingerjoints. What is thixotropy? i The term thixotropy refers to a change in flow properties brought about by means of mechanical pro- cessing that reduces a substance’s viscosity, so that it does not return to its original viscosity until a later point in time. This means that the substance becomes thinner as the deformation takes effect. The change can be brought about in a number of ways—for example, by means of compaction, shaking or kneading. Everyday examples of substances that undergo this process include toothpaste and ketchup.