Silres BS6920 solvent-free binder can help produce coatings that provide stain protection and enhance floor surfaces. WACKER, the world’s leading chemical company, offers an innovative solvent-free binder that can be used for impregnating cementitious flooring to ensure excellent stain protection and consolidate and optically enhance the floor surface.
Silres BS6920 based on Alpha-silane technology, which was unveiled at the European Coating Show 2017, is a highly effective alternative to water glasses (sodium silicate) or silanes. Its stain-protection effect, in particular, makes it superior to other binders.
It shows its strengths particularly where the flooring is subject to considerable loading from soiling agents or foot and wheel traffic and is still required to permanently maintain an attractive appearance.
In many countries, architects, property planners and project implementers have been increasingly turning to concrete or cement-screed floors that can be used directly – without the application of tiles, wood-block flooring, linoleum or other coverings. These surfaces are ground and polished to meet high aesthetic standards.
Cement-bound designer floors can be found today in many fashion stores, exhibition and sales rooms, shopping malls, bistros, galleries and museums.
However, while these floors are sturdy and durable by nature, if left untreated, they are prone to dirt pick-up, are difficult to maintain and wear quickly.
To protect such floors, they are usually impregnated. However, the impregnation agents that are generally available often prove ineffective in practice on floor surfaces. Many of the liquids that fall onto floors produce stains despite the treatment.
But this can be remedied with Silres BS 6920, which enables the production of highly effective one-component impregnating agents, offering excellent stain protection and consolidating the floor surface.
This allows liquids such as engine oil, plasticizers (from car tires), edible oils, spilt drinks, ketchup or other foods to soak into the pores. The other foods to soak into the pores. The porosity also reduces the floor’s mechanical strength.
Another aspect of cementitious surfaces is that they are not very wear resistant – a problem not only for homes, but also for other floor surfaces such as warehouses, garages and sales room.
Depending on the absorbency of the concrete and how much preparation is used for the treatment, a thin film forms on the concrete surface.
Impregnating agents using different technologies have been developed for treating cementitious flooring. Amongst those widely used are waterborne silicate impregnating agents known as water glass (sodium silicate) systems and solvent-based silane impregnating agents.
However, both of these technologies are severely challenged by many common soiling materials, as has been reported by customers from the construction industry and as shown by Wacker’s own tests. In lab tests, coffee, red wine, cola or mustard left persistent stains on impregnated test plates after 24 hours of contact.
Silres BS 6920 belongs to the group of alpha-silaneterminated polyether’s. As with all silane-terminated poly- ethers, the Silres BS6920 undergoes silane crosslinking, forming a siloxane network as soon as it is exposed to moisture.
Sufficiently rapid curing is achieved in the presence of an amino silane catalyst.
Wacker R&D specialists have custom-designed the new polymer for use in impregnating agents for cementitious flooring. The key parameters for these agents were the chemical structure of the silane building blocks and the lengths of the polyether chains.
For example, the silane structure of Silres BS6920 was modified so that Silres BS6920 cures to form a particularly close-meshed network of quartz-like structural units.
Thanks to the optimization, the new binder has a low viscosity which penetrates deep into the pores of the cementitious substrate, filling them more or less completely before curing to form a hard material.
The chemical structure of the new binder makes the treated surface of the flooring both water- and oilrepellent.
Since the crosslinked Silres BS6920, with its quartz-like structure, mechanically reinforces the substrate, the treated floor becomes abrasion resistant and can withstand heavy pedestrian traffic, or can even be driven on by forklift trucks, cars or heavy-duty vehicles.
In terms of safety, Silres BS6920 is solvent free and classified as nonhazardous. Its flash point is over 100 deg C, thus reducing any fire risk.
Because of its low viscosity, Silres BS6920 can also be processed without using solvents. However, processors can also add solvents if needed. Likewise, quartz flour fillers, pigments or other solids can be added to adjust the mechanical and optical properties of the end product within wide limits.
Easy to Use Impregnating agents made from Silres BS6920 are very easy to use; they can be applied to the relevant floor using a mop, a short-hair roller or an airless spray gun.
After 24 hours, curing is largely completed, and the floor can be walked on. If the substrate is highly porous (very absorbent), two coats may be necessary to achieve the best results. If an impregnating agent is applied to an absorbent substrate, the first coat mainly fills the pores and consolidates the floor.
Most of the agent soaks into the substrate and the surface looks quite in homogeneous. Only the second coat results in a homogeneous, polishable, glossy surface. The resulting film reduces the surface roughness considerably and produces a uniform, high-gloss surface.
Results
Excellent stain protection, colour intensification and mechanical consolidation are the three main features resulting from impregnation with Silres BS6920.
If a cement- bound floor is treated with a transparent formulation of Silres BS6920, the surface appears darker and the colors look more intense.
These optical effects are desirable to many architecture and implementation companies. The floors designed in that way have high-quality appearance as well as become more resistant to scratching and brushing thanks to the consolidating effect of the agent.
However, the key benefit of the Silres BS 6920 is dirt resistance. Wacker’s engineers compared it to commercially available silicate- and silane-based impregnating agents.
Twenty substances were tested. They were wiped off first with dry and then with wet kitchen towels after 24 hours. In the case of the silicate impregnation, 14 of the 20 test substances left stains.
In the case of the silane impregnation, it was seven; and in the case of Silres BS6920, only three. These results (see above) show that the product offers significantly more protection against soiling agents than the agents based on conventional technologies.
Wacker customers have been successfully using hybrid flooring solutions as a protective floor coating of warehouses, parking lots, stamped concrete, terrazzo, etc.
Silres BS6920 is a one-component and fast-curing solution, which enhances the ease of application thus saving time and energy of the applicator. BS6920 can be formulated for both interior and exterior ap- plications and is also being used as a binder for terrazzo and stone carpet systems.
Benefits such as one-component formulation, ease of repair, excellent stain and scratch resistance, solvent-free and enhanced breathability of the coating differentiates our product compared to traditional applications used in the industry at present.
Prepared by: Zafer Arslan
Technical Sales Manager
IMCD Tic. Paz. ve Dan. Ltd. Şti.
Burcu Atmaca Gölbaşı
Sales Manager
Wacker Kimya Ticaret Limited Şirketi
