Home, Sweet home !

Polymers in the realm of the senses

The quality of living spaces is now assessed using a multisensory approach. It assesses acoustic comfort, including noise reduction, thermal comfort by regulating the ambient temperature, as well as olfactory and visual comfort. These criteria are all the more important when they coincide with heavily regulated health requirements.
As they are becoming ever more impermeable to outside infiltrations, interiors are increasingly turning into closed spaces in which the elimination of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), allergens and other fine particles is a major issue. Thanks to a highly-sophisticated monitoring process, using hundreds of sensors, the Smart House aims at measuring emissions of the polymers present in the adhesives, coatings and wall or floor coverings.

The system also serves to assess their overall impact on Inside Air Quality, based on the combined effects and the interactions linked, for instance, to the presence of pollutants or the activity of the inhabitants.

No more VOCs in our homes!

Ever more stringent comfort and health requirements have led to the need to reduce, and, if possible, eliminate solvents in the resins and adhesives intended for the home.
These organic materials are essential for manufacturing and installing wall and floor coverings, and they are subject to many tests before being put on sale, usually with recommendations for users. Unfortunately, standardised tests are often carried out in vitro using theoretical cycles.
However, studying these materials in situ enables their behaviour to be checked over time under the effect of controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV).

This also enables the slightest volatile organic compounds (VOC) emitted by the most advanced products in this regard to be measured exactly. These include, for instance, acrylic-based adhesives in the aqueous phase intended for flexible floor coverings, mineral binders modified by polymers for tiling, and photocrosslinkable acrylate varnishes used by flooring manufacturers.

Adhesives for low-noise innovation

mproving acoustic performance is one of the priority areas for improving comfort in a house. Developments in the fight against external noise pollution generally coincide with progress made in the field of insulation on the building's envelope. However, reducing interior noise linked to the inhabitants' activity is still too often overlooked despite manufacturers' efforts towards improving the acoustic properties of the materials used to manufacture or lay down and attach floor and wall coverings. They serve a dual purpose: preventing the spread of noise under the floors through improved sound insulation, and improving a room's acoustics

The tests carried out by Bostik in the Smart House are aimed at improving the acoustic performance of the adhesive solutions used for the floors. By comparing the benefits of a hybrid polymer-based adhesive, used with a plastic underlay, with those of its new adhesive that is able to reduce impact noise, without using a soundproofing underlay
In another area, which involves security rather than comfort, experiments are being carried out on floor smoothing compounds fitted with piezoelectric modules that can detect falls.