X-Seal Acrylic-120 Technical Information
Features of X-Seal Acrylic-120
- it rapidly creates an invisible bond within the material, without needing air or heat
- water vapour can still pass through without getting trapped and causing decay
- it moves with the structure, keeping the material flexible
- appearance is unaffected: any X-Seal remaining on the surface will evaporate or wash away
- it protects against the damaging effects of the weather, sealing the material and the adhesive so that it remains strong for years and years - and you won't have to reapply it
Physical Properties of X-Seal
X-Seal is available in two formats: a two pack liquid solution for mixing (X-Seal Acrylic-120C) and a pre-mixed solution for thermal cure (X-Seal Acrylic-120T). It's very safe to use, because X-Seal is:
- solvent-free
- low odour
- low viscosity – similar to kerosine (paraffin)
- tough when cured, but remains bendy (like a clear plastic)
- able to withstand temperatures up to 200°C once cured
- highly resistant to corrosive chemicals such as solvents and acids
X-Seal Acrylic-120 is an Impregnant
The difference between coating and impregnation
An impregnant seals from within. Contrast with something that is not an impregnant, but is a coating: paint – a synthetic resin layer placed on an object to protect the subsurface from environmental decomposition. Coatings, at best, are sacrificial elements that protect the substrate and as we all know need to be regularly replaced, normally because cracks have allowed water to penetrate behind the coating. Trapped inside, the damp does hidden damage. A typical coating contains resins and driers that require air for them to cure. They also contain a lot of solvent to make them liquid enough to paint and large quantities of inorganic filler to provide some protection against solar radiation.
What is an impregnant?
For instance for impregnation, the sealant cures in the absence of air. It is expected to be thin and free flowing with no solvents.
The best example of an impregnant is Loctite® Thread Locking Fluid, introduced to the market in the mid 1960s. This was an acrylic monomer based product being anaerobic (curable in the absence of air). It cures by the Redox process, where an organic catalyst within the formulation reacts with metal salts to cause curing of the monomer. In the case of thread locking, it was the steel bolt itself that became part of the reaction process. This was the ideal impregnation sealant and the first of its type. Today it is commonplace.
How is X-Seal different?
Acrylic-120C is an impregnation sealant that is able to cure within most substrates, whatever the structural make-up.
What X-Seal has done is to combine the Redox process within its formulation so that it has all the benefits produced with the thread locking formulation; rapid penetration and curing, excellent cured stability, chemical, temperature and pressure resistance, tough, flexible with long term resilient to environmental impact.
Acrylic-120C is a two pack which is mixed together at the point of application. X-Seal Acrylic-120C is an impregnation sealant in the true sense of the word without suffering the shortcomings of surface coating.
Impregnation with a silane
There is another type of impregnation agent, which by definition is not a sealant but a silane. This is used in the protection of concrete motorway bridges. It achieves this by coating the voids within the substrate, thus making them resilient to capillary attraction by water. Their downside is that they are unable to protect against a head of water and that they have to be reapplied periodically.
Again, X-Seal is a far better solution to the same problem: it impregnates and cures within the concrete in a just few minutes, to give a permanent, resilient and protective seal.
Technical Details
Technical and safety information about X-Seal Acrylic-120 is available in the downloadable data sheets. If you need further details, please contact us.
X-Seal Acrylic 120C Safety and Technical Data Sheets
Click to open the Safety Data Sheet for X-Seal Acrylic-120C.
Click here for the Technical Data Sheet for Acrylic-120C.
X-Seal Acrylic 120T Safety and Technical Data Sheets
Click to open the Safety Data Sheet for X-Seal Acrylic-120T.
Click here for the Technical Data Sheet for Acrylic-120T.