Henkel announced the market availability of Loctite Stycast UV 7998, the latest formulation in the company’s line of conformal coatings. The material is well-suited for many applications, including home appliances, lighting, consumer electronics, and automotive.

“Meeting the demands of energy efficiency, mass production, operator safety, cost, and performance while fulfilling challenging certification standards is a difficult balance to strike,” says Henkel Global Innovation Project Manager Oliver Steinbach, explaining the engineering achievement of the new material. “The aim was to engineer a next-generation conformal coating that delivers best-in-class performance, meets the highest sustainability criteria, and optimizes process efficiency. Loctite Stycast UV 7998 has achieved these objectives, bringing the electronics market a conformal coating solution that instills product protection confidence and demonstrates Henkel’s purpose-driven innovation.”

Conformal coatings are thin polymeric materials applied to PCBs and components and are ubiquitous for electronics applications that require a shield against moisture, dust, chemicals, and other environmental conditions that may limit performance and reduce product lifespan. Loctite Stycast 7998 provides this vital protection while lowering costs and enhancing safety, health, and the environment with its solvent-free composition.

The material is easily applied, offering self-leveling across the PCB assembly, excellent wetting, and uniform coverage with no voiding. Once coated, curing takes place in seconds with energy-efficient UV light, followed by a secondary moisture cure, after which the PCB is shielded from harsh environmental conditions and contaminants.

Loctite Stycast UV 7998’s strong attention to sustainability can enable electronics manufacturers to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40% (versus solvent-containing formulas), prioritize operator health, and realize significant cost improvements.

Compared to solvent-based conformal coatings, the VOC-free, solvent-free Loctite Stycast UV 7998 requires as much as four times less sprayed volume to achieve a similar thickness. In addition to eliminating environmental volatiles, the material is tin-free, halogen-free, BPA-free, and RoHS- and REACH-compliant.