Hydroxyethyl acrylate

Application Fields

Relying on the dual function of "double bond polymerization + hydroxyl crosslinking," HEA is widely used in scenarios requiring crosslinking modification, hydrophilicity adjustment, or reactivity enhancement:

Coatings and Inks Industry:

UV-curable coatings: Used as a reactive diluent, it works with photoinitiators to polymerize rapidly under ultraviolet light (curing time < 10 seconds). It is used for furniture and plastic coatings, featuring both high gloss (60° gloss > 95) and scratch resistance (pencil hardness ≥ 2H).

Waterborne coatings: It copolymerizes with acrylics to introduce hydroxyl groups and increase crosslinking density, significantly improving the water resistance (no blistering after 240 hours of immersion) and weather resistance (no chalking after 1000 hours of QUV aging) of the coatings, making them suitable for building exterior walls and automotive primers.

Adhesives and Sealants:

It reacts with polyurethane prepolymers and crosslinks via hydroxyl groups with -NCO to prepare high-performance structural adhesives, used for metal-plastic bonding (shear strength > 15 MPa), with a temperature resistance range of -40~120℃.

As a modifier for pressure-sensitive adhesives, it introduces hydroxyl groups to increase adhesion to polar substrates (such as glass and aluminum), improving peel strength by over 30%.

Polymer Material Modification:

Waterborne resins: It modifies polyacrylate emulsions via copolymerization; hydroxyl groups participate in crosslinking to enhance the solvent resistance of the resin film after formation (resistant to > 50 ethanol wipes), used for leather finishing and textile finishing.

Medical polymers: It copolymerizes with N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) to prepare hydrogels; hydroxyl groups impart hydrophilicity and biocompatibility to the material, used for contact lenses and wound dressings (water absorption can reach 500% of their own weight).

Other Fields:

As an oilfield chemical, it is used to prepare fracturing fluid thickeners; hydroxyl groups enhance adsorption to formation rocks, improving fracturing efficiency. It synthesizes photosensitive resins for printed circuit board photoresists; after double bond photosensitive polymerization, precise patterns are formed (resolution can reach 50μm).