Dr Claudio Toncelli
R&D Manager, L&L Products
Claudio Toncelli has obtained his PhD in Groningen (NL), where he has worked on the development of functional polymers mainly for automotive and composite industry. Afterwards, he has spent one year as process engineer in Polyvation (NL) focusing on custom-production of precise polymer architectures for their use as biomedical devices. He has then continued his academic path first as postodoctoral researcher at the University of Cork (IE) in 2012 and the University of Heraklion (GR) in 2013, then he has joined EMPA in 2014 as scientist first and group leader one year later, where he has worked on bio-mimicking chemical motifs applied in surgical glue adhesives. At Kermel (FR), he has led from 2019 the R&D development of intrinsically fire-resistant polyamide-imide fibers and since September 2025 he has joined L&L in the quality of R&D manager to lead the adhesive division.
Development of High-strength Silyl-modified Polymer Adhesives
Silyl-modified polymers combine the advantages of two different worlds. Indeed, polyether and polyacrylates, when functionalized with flexible (based on the low rotational energy of the Si-O bond) telechelic silyl moieties, lead to humidity-induced cross-linking as in most current 1K formulations. Such formulation can yield a wide span of adhesive ranging from purely highly elastic sealants up to high strength adhesive, reaching and, as in our case, outperforming standard polyurethane sealants. Additionally, clear advantages in terms of toxicity profile can be observed compared to the polyurethane homologues, which makes it particularly appealing in a context where isocyanate exposure levels regulations in working environment have been tightened. At L&L products, we have extended our SMP portfolio to achieve the limits of what today is attainable with SMP chemistry, ranging from 1.5 MPa tensile strength (A-J215) up to 7 MPa tensile strength (A-J930). Additionally, to overcome the relatively slow strength build-up of common SMPs, we are proposing our 2K 10:1 formulations homologues (A-J217 and A-J931), which allow strength build up in much shorter time for faster product manipulation and handling. Especially for the high strength formulation, the subtle interplay between charges and silyl modified polymers, push the limit of SMPs adhesive sealants in multiple fields, such as transportation, construction and all industries where standard polyurethane sealants are involved. Additionally, the presence of highly thermally conductive charges is particularly interesting to avoid thermal runaway for its usage as gap filler in battery applications.
Breakout Session XIV – SMP Chemistry: Advancing Adhesive Performance – 18 September 2026 – 11:00 – 11:30 – Room Whittle – F3