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ELVALOY™ Copolymers
A versatile copolymer for durability and resilience
For decades, ELVALOY™ Copolymers have epitomized versatility and durability. They have enhanced the performance of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other polymers across diverse industries. With exceptional properties and remarkable adaptability, ELVALOY™ AC, ELVALOY™ KEE, and ELVALOY™ RET have emerged as a cornerstone in polymer modification, reshaping the landscape of product design and engineering.
Enhancing PVC performance with ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymers
ELVALOY™ AC represents a family of copolymer resins meticulously engineered to elevate the performance and longevity of PVC-based materials. This unique copolymer injects PVC formulations with attributes extending beyond the capabilities of traditional polymers.
ELVALOY™ AC represents the gateway to innovative product design and engineering, adapting PVC-based products seamlessly to real-world applications, and empowering manufacturers to create products with a reduced environmental footprint.
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer exceeds EVA in thermal stability during processing, ensuring consistent performance and high-quality products. It minimizes risks of material degradation, distortion, or processing inconsistencies. With enhanced resistance to heat-induced degradation, ELVALOY™ AC is ideal when temperature control is crucial.
The versatility of ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer suits polar and non-polar substrates, supporting compatibility and performance across diverse applications. This flexibility fosters innovation and efficiency in product design across industries and empowers manufacturers to create tailored solutions that meet specific requirements with ease.
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer applications
Explore the diverse applications of ELVALOY™ AC and its transformative impact across industries.
Masterbatch
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer is a versatile modifier to enhance the properties of the masterbatch material. It supports enhanced performance characteristics, further compounding into products like films, sheets, and molded parts. It facilitates the dispersion of additives and pigments within the masterbatch, ensuring uniformity and consistency.
Polymer Modification
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer enhances base polymers like PVC, improving flexibility and impact resistance for roofing membranes, geomembranes, and wire insulation applications. It’s compatible with many polar and non-polar resins for improved compounds' rheology, processibility, and mechanical performance, extending the product lifespan.
PET Trays
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer enhances CPET and APET trays by improving low-temperature toughness, ensuring durability, and enhancing processability. Its compatibilization properties make it ideal for creating reliable, recyclable PET trays, meeting rigorous packaging standards while maintaining food safety compliance.
Flexible Film
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer enhances flexible films by providing elasticity without stickiness and excellent breathability. Ideal for stretch hoods, hygiene films, medical gowns, flexible packaging and roofing membranes, it ensures durable, high-performance films that meet stringent application demands.
Plastics Compounding & Recycling
ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer enhances strength, flexibility, and weather resistance, allowing for high-quality recycled plastic products. It facilitates the compatibility of recycled plastics with virgin materials, supporting sufficient blending and enhancing overall product performance. ELVALOY™ AC is invaluable in promoting sustainability and circularity within the plastics industry.
Learn about ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer
Explore resources and brochures detailing the transformative capabilities of ELVALOY™ AC. From technical specification to application guides, gain valuable insights into how ELVALOY™ AC enhances performance and sustainability for your products.
Solutions for Elastic Blown Films: ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymers reduce stickiness and improve unwinding in multilayer films, while maintaining robust hysteresis performance.
ELVALOY™ AC as Masterbatch Carrier Resin: ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Copolymer serves as an excellent masterbatch carrier resin, facilitating the dispersion of additives and pigments in various polymer systems. It has excellent filler acceptance, higher thermal resistance than incumbent solutions, and high compatibility to a broad range of polymers, from polyolefins to various engineering plastics.
Solutions for Medical Applications Breathable Films: By leveraging ELVALOY™ AC Acrylate Coplymers, we’ve created multilayer breathable films that maintain pore reduction without compromising essential criteria and tailored demands for medical applications. The incorporation of a thin ELVALOY™ AC layer effectively minimizes porosity while preserving high gas permeability, ensuring enhanced performance in specialized applications.
Solutions for next-generation roofing
Commercial buildings need durable and resilient roofing that can withstand torrential rain, searing heat, frigid cold, constant winds—and the test of time. ELVALOY™ KEE (Ketone Ethylene Ester) Terpolymer from Dow offers these properties and more.
Non-migrating
ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer is a non-migrating PVC plasticizer used for watertight, low-slope roofing. ELVALOY™ KEE makes PVC supple, pliable and durable. The non-liquid additive also eliminates plasticizer migration, which can cause resin to shrink, expand, crack and leach other chemicals.
For easy installation
A roofing membrane modified with ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer is light, easy to install and has a high tensile strength to resist breaking under pressure.
Temperature-resistant
ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer has a high tolerance for temperature swings. PVC roofing membranes modified with ELVALOY™ KEE are tolerant of temperatures ranging from minus 35 degrees Celsius (minus 31 degrees Fahrenheit) to 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit).
More attributes
ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer has many more attributes such as it is not a liquid plasticizer, it improves chemical resistance, and promotes flexibility and durability. ELVALOY™ KEE also eliminates plasticizer migration and increases tensile strength. ELVALOY™ KEE makes roof installation easier and more cost-effective.
Just one of Dow’s many revolutionary modifiers
ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer is part of Dow’s robust family of raw materials and resin products for various applications in addition to roofing, including automobiles, medical devices, wire and insulation, footwear and construction products.
Roofing Products
Find the right Dow products for your application.
Roofing membrane science
Learn more about Dow’s roofing materials and options.
ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer revolution in roofing
See how ELVALOY™ KEE Terpolymer can help solve your roofing challenges.
ELVALOY™ Reactive Elastomeric Terpolymer (RET) polymer modified binders support tougher, more sustainable paving. They address the needs of planners seeking solutions to increased traffic, decaying infrastructure, autonomous vehicles, and more frequent road repairs. And for aggregate industries and pavers, they offer smooth, long-lasting and more sustainable pavement.
Polymer modified asphalt (PMA) is a widely used, successful option for making better pavement. For decades, ELVALOY™ Reactive Elastomeric Terpolymer (RET) products have been offering excellent performance and processing, greater service life and the potential for lower life cycle costs compared to conventional, neat asphalt.
ELVALOY™ RET creates a permanently improved binder, offering long-lasting performance in well-engineered pavements—meaning it can offer a higher total value from its extended service life and reduce the need to disrupt traffic prematurely.
The distinct composition and properties of ELVALOY™ RET Polymer contribute to enhanced storage stability, ensuring products maintain their quality and functionality over time, providing reliability for manufacturers and end-users.
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer offers significant benefits for high-performance, flexibility, and resistance to rutting. Its distinct composition and properties help enable it to maintain strength and flexibility even under elevated temperatures, while also resisting deformation and rutting over time.
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer offers significant benefits for low-temperature performance, flexibility, and resistance to cracking. Its distinct composition and properties help enable it to remain flexible and resilient even in cold environments, reducing the risk of cracking and maintaining performance over a wide temperature range.
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer maintains resilience and recovers its shape after repeated stress. These characteristics help prevent permanent deformation, rutting, and surface damage, ensuring long-term durability and performance of pavement materials in high-traffic areas.
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer offers the benefit of low sulfur emissions, contributing to a more environmentally friendly option. Its formulation minimizes the release of sulfur compounds during processing and use, reducing environmental impact and supporting sustainability goals.
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer can withstand exposure to fuels and chemicals without degradation. This property ensures the long-term integrity and performance of materials, making them suitable for applications where resistance to fuel contact is essential, such as automotive components, airport applications, and fuel storage systems.
ELVALOY™ Reactive Elastomeric Terpolymers
View the ELVALOY™ RET portfolio of products.
ELVALOY™ RET paving applications
Roads & Intersections
Improve the binder at a molecular level with ELVALOY™ RET Polymer, which helps roads and intersections stay smoother, safer and more resistant.
Expressways
Handle highway traffic better and for longer with improved binder performance with ELVALOY™ RET Polymers.
Airports
Achieve smoother, longer-lasting airport runways, taxiways and related pavements with ELVALOY™ RET Polymers.
ELVALOY™ RET success stories
Explore locations around the world where ELVALOY™ RET Polymer is helping improve asphalt performance.
Reduced rutting in India
India's Jaipur-Kishangarh Expressway in the State of Rajasthan is in a high-temperature desert zone, with sections subject to heavy traffic.
Brazil transportation corridor
Rodovia Anhangüera (SP-330), a 4-lane toll highway, connects São Paulo with the state's hotter northern areas.
Managing extremes in Oregon
Oregon "high desert" highway sections built in a service environment marked by heavy truck traffic and severe temperature cycles.
Challenging Canadian winters
Pavements made with different modifiers were tested side-by-side in Timmins, Ontario, where winter temperatures reach record lows.
Managing costs reduced
Project engineers in Montana wanted all the temperature range they could get, to fight cracking and rutting with a better-built pavement.
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer versus SBS
Extensive test data is available from third parties, including government agencies, industry groups and universities, demonstrating that ELVALOY™ RET Polymer has equivalent or improved performance vs. styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) modified asphalt at lower dosages. ELVALOY™ RET slows down pavement deformation and resists damage from extreme temperatures and moisture, making it an investment for the long-term.
Let’s compare the differences in detail.
The differences between ELVALOY™ RET Polymer and SBS begin with basic polymer chemistry and handling properties.
Swipe to Scroll
| ELVALOY™ RET | Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS) |
| Specifically engineered for asphalt modification | Developed in the 1950s as a replacement for rubber |
| Storage-stability, because ELVALOY™ RET Polymer chemically links with asphalt | Susceptible to separation from the asphalt |
| Can be winter-filled and stored for reheating and use later on | Not recommended for winter-filling |
| Only low shear mixing is necessary | High-shear mill required for mixing at increased capital and maintenance costs |
| Delivered as a free-flowing pellet which results in easy handling | Not as easily handled |
Typical values, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
*Asphalt is defined as bitumen or binder
Terminal operators and paving contractors can also benefit from successful ELVALOY™ RET Asphalt Modifier technology.
Swipe to Scroll
| ELVALOY™ RET Polymer | Styrene Butadiene Styrene (SBS) |
| Lower processing, storage, mixing, and compaction temperatures | Higher storage, mixing and compaction temperatures |
| Faster compaction to address required densities which requires less equipment and more rapid opening to traffic | Longer compaction times, and long lane closures; harder to construct due to ever-increasing night and weekend paving windows |
| Increased workability for paving crews who quickly realize ELVALOY™ RET Polymer paves like neat asphalt | Harder for crews without PMA experience to use; Can cause significant paving issues, particularly for highly-modified asphalt mixes |
Typical values, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
*Asphalt is defined as bitumen or binder
ELVALOY™ RET MF 1177 Polymeric Post-Consumer Recycle Asphalt Paving Compatibilizer wins Edison and R&D 100 Awards
ELVALOY™ RET Polymer has won both the 2022 R&D 100 Award and the 2023 Gold Edison Award in the Circular Economy Category. A dual achievement, this shows how it not only facilitates the diversion of plastic waste from landfills, but also enhances road quality by harnessing the advantages of recycled plastics.
The distinct chemical composition of ELVALOY™ RET MF 1177 reactively modifies asphalt to enhance rutting and cracking resistance while compatibilizing hard-to-recycle polyethylene-rich streams into asphalt. The result is improved and mechanically resilient roads. Equally important, it allows plastic waste to be diverted from landfills and incorporated into pavement for enhanced long-term resilience with increased resistance to climate conditions. This “win-win” situation points toward smooth traveling ahead.
Copolymer plastic is a type of plastic made from two or more different monomers chemically bonded together, resulting in a material with combined properties of the constituent polymers, often enhancing strength, flexibility, or durability.
ELVALOY™ AC is an example of a copolymer, specifically a terpolymer of ethylene, carbon monoxide, and acrylate, used to enhance flexibility, durability, and impact resistance in various plastic applications.
Copolymers differ from polymers in that copolymers are made from two or more different monomers, while polymers are made from repeating units of a single type of monomer. This gives copolymers combined properties of the different monomers used.
Copolymers are utilized in various applications such as packaging, automotive components, adhesives, textiles, and medical devices. They offer improved properties like increased flexibility, enhanced strength, better durability, and specific chemical resistances, which single-monomer polymers often cannot offer.
Advantages of copolymers:
Enhanced material properties (e.g., strength, flexibility, durability)
Improved chemical resistance
Tailorable properties for specific applications
EMA (Ethylene Methyl Acrylate) is a copolymer made from ethylene and methyl acrylate monomers. It exhibits properties such as flexibility, impact resistance, and chemical stability, making it suitable for various applications including packaging, films, coatings, and adhesives.
KEE, or Ketone Ethylene Ester, is a type of thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) that offers excellent resistance to weathering, UV radiation, and chemicals. It is commonly used in roofing membranes, automotive parts, and wire and cable coatings due to its durability and flexibility.
Ketone Ethylene Ester (KEE) roofing refers to roofing membranes made from a thermoplastic elastomer compound containing ketone, ethylene, and ester components. These membranes are highly durable, flexible, and resistant to weathering, UV radiation, and chemicals, making them suitable for various roofing applications.
PMB (Polymer Modified Bitumen) is used primarily for road construction and maintenance. It enhances the properties of traditional bitumen, offering improved resistance to rutting, cracking, fatigue, and aging, resulting in longer-lasting and higher-performing road surfaces.
Polymer-modified bitumen is made by blending bitumen with various polymers, such as styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) or styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), using a high-shear mixer or colloid mill. This process disperses the polymers evenly throughout the bitumen, enhancing its properties such as elasticity, durability, and temperature resistance.
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