Cement Based Tile Adhesive (CBTA)
Dow Construction Chemicals offers cellulose ether products with different distinct features and in a range of viscosity grades to improve the performance of cement based tile adhesives. They are used as thickening and water retaining additives and impart a creamy and easy workability and consistency due to their rheological performance. In addition, they provide excellent slip resistance and other fundamentally important properties such as high water retention, improved wetting to the tile, high bonding strength to the substrate as well as a long open time with prolonged adjustability time.
DOW™ Latex Powders (DLP) - redispersible polymer powders (RDP) - are used to improve deformability and enable the production of tile adhesives with a high bonding strength on different substrates also under critical conditions.
Ensuring Quality Building - European Standards and Norms
Depending on the local construction technology, regional needs and building traditions, the choice of the raw material and the performance criteria as well as the norms and guidelines for testing the adhesives can differ from country to country.
In Europe the standards DIN EN 12004 and DIN EN 12002 (International standard ISO 13007) define the various performance criteria for adhesives for tiles. The norm EN 12004 specifies the values of performance requirements for all ceramic tile adhesives [cementitious (C), dispersion (D) and reaction resin (R) adhesives]. Each type can be divided into two classes with either normal (type 1) or improved (type 2) properties. The norm DIN EN 12002 defines the deformability of cementitious mortars and grouts.
Cementitious tile adhesives (C) are rated and classified in terms of tensile adhesion strength (DIN EN 12004) and deformability (DIN EN 12002). Tensile adhesion strength is tested for four different storage conditions. Depending on the requirements cementitious tile adhesives are either classified as C1 to achieve minimum values of 0.5 N/mm² or as C2 with adhesion strengths of at least 1.0 N/mm² respectively.
The introduction of the European Norm EN 12004 and EN 12002 has led to quality categories for cement based tile adhesives of classes C1 and C2 for slip resistance, adhesion strength, open time and transverse deformation (classes S1 and S2). Depending on the different demands today, there is a broad range of ceramic-tile adhesives available, considering different substrates to be tiled and the tiles being used: standard and flexible, normal- and fast-setting, as well as special adhesives such as white mortars for fixing natural stones, waterproofing adhesives, flow-bed mortars for floor tiling, gypsum-based adhesives, lightweight adhesives with high yield, adhesives for fully vitrified stoneware and glass with virtually no water absorption. Finally there is an ongoing trend using larger tiles for walls and floors.
Characteristics defined for a thin-bed adhesive can only be achieved by a prepacked polymer-modified cementitious dry mix mortar containing cellulose ethers as water retention aid and as rheological modifier as well as redispersible powders as polymer binding agent.
Dow Construction Chemicals offers a broad range of products for formulating economic as well high-end tile adhesives. Please select a product type below to obtain a list of recommended products for this application and to access the respective technical data sheets:
Cellulose Ethers
Redispersible Latex Powder