Adflex TPOs Transform Residential Roofing with Performance and Value
Underneath most shingled roofs built during the past 50 years in North America is asphalt-coated paper, designed to keep moisture at bay. But it presents many challenges: it’s difficult to install, can retain water and tears easily. The last thing homeowners want is a roof with a short life, and producers and installers need products that perform, both during and after installation.
That’s why roofing manufacturers are turning to synthetic fabrics coated with plastics to produce underlayments. LyondellBasell has developed a new product that’s used to coat the polypropylene nonwoven fabric –Adflex thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) – which has demonstrated that it can outperform the old-fashioned asphalt paper.
“Coaters of synthetic fabrics require polymers that provide excellent anti-skid performance in dry and wet conditions, tear resistance, lighter weight, breathability and cold temperature flexibility, which Adflex TPOs offer,” said Ignace Triassi, Catalloy Americas customer project manager.
“Synthetic roofing underlayment offers capabilities and performance that traditional asphalt-saturated felt paper cannot achieve,” said Ganesh Nagarajan, Catalloy Americas market manager. “We believe that the residential housing market will continue to move away from traditional asphalt-saturated felt paper, with Adflex resins becoming the material of choice.”
Adflex TPOs are alloys of rubber and polypropylene polymerized in the reactor, providing consistent processing and end-use properties. Using LyondellBasell’s proprietary Catalloy process technology, these resins feature uniformly dispersed rubber within the crystalline matrix, enabling easy control of key properties.
Adflex resins once again demonstrate that LyondellBasell produces chemistry the world counts on.
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