As polyurethane adhesive chemists will attest, the reactivity of isocyanates simultaneously makes them both highly useful and highly toxic reagents. However, in today's safety conscious world the use of isocyanates is becoming more restricted...

Asphalt or bitumen materials have had wide application in the adhesives and sealants industry for many years. In fact, they were used as hot melt coatings for construction as early as 6000 B.C. because of their waterproofing properties...

While in many circumstances strength and ease of application is the bottom line for adhesive manufacturers, in others it is more important that the appearance is right. In fact, fastening materials together in an attractive manner often drives manufacturers to adhesives, away from rivets, screws and bolts...

The EU's REACH regulation has a clear message: meet the requirements or you will not be able to produce in, export to, or market within the EU. Is your company able to meet this challenge...

Maximizing coating line speed is an obvious approach to improving manufacturing economics for the adhesive converter. Adhesive coatings are often applied to continuous web material through the use of high-speed coating devices.

As we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the flat screen TV is arguably the most obvious advance that has been made beyond 20th century technology. It's appropriate then that in this characteristically modern product, we find one of the greatest contemporary challenges for adhesive technology.

Molecular sieves may be the original nanomaterial. They have been used for decades by adhesive and sealant formulators to modify compounds on a nano - or molecular level.

The heroic tale of how humble superglue saved lives in Vietnam by providing a quick way to close wounds and stop bleeding is surprisingly widely told – and almost too good to believe...

Natural formulations are a well known stalwart of the adhesive industry, with highly specified applications that include around 30 percent of the market for adhesives that do not use volatile solvents...

Styrene butadiene block copolymers (SBCs) are useful base polymers for the formulation of sealants because of their unique combination of strength and elastomeric properties. Generally, SBC sealants can be formulated with movement capability between +/- 10% and +/- 25%, which places them in the medium to high performance sealant category...

Amongst the many world-changing discoveries made thanks to the journey of Columbus to America, rubber is one of the more overlooked.

Static electricity can be a major problem with certain adhesive products such as pressure sensitive coatings, laminating films, and other sheet or film products. Static electricity generally does not come from the adhesive coating but from a non-conducting substrate such as a plastic or paper web...

Most tests of adhesive strength examine linear or peel stress1, which induce cracking and drive adhesives to the point of failure. When cracks develop either adhesive or cohesive failure can result and over the years extensive mathematical representations have been developed to model this...

Vinyl ester resins are thermosetting resins that consist of a styrene monomer and the addition products of epoxy resins and methacrylic acid. As a result, they are sometimes referred to as "epoxy vinyl esters". They are somewhere between epoxies and polyester in performance properties and price...

When I first learnt about adhesive formulation, one of the less technical rules-of-thumb that I was given compared my employer's processes with cake-baking. Polymer fluids were analogous to milk and water, solid fillers to flour, crosslinkers to egg and catalysts to baking powder.

In the electronics industry thermally-conductive adhesives serve the dual purposes of bonding materials together and transferring heat away from electronics components to printed wiring boards and heat sinks...

Hydrocolloid adhesives are unique in that they can act as an adhesive, and they are also capable of absorbing fluids without losing their adhesion. These are multiphase polymeric structures that consist of a continuous rubbery phase into which is dispersed a particulate absorbent material, which constitutes the discontinuous phase...

Adhesives and sealants that are based on styrene butadiene block copolymers are both useful and unusual. They have the solubility and thermoplastic nature of polystyrene; while at ambient temperature, it has the toughness and resilience of an elastomer...

Silicones have a very particular set of properties that give them an important niche in the adhesive industry. They are chemically resistant, water repellant, stable at temperatures up to 300°C, and physically strong. In comparison to epoxy-based sealants and polyurethane adhesives they are a relatively expensive solution but are familiar to many as bathroom adhesives and also fulfil a number of specialised engineering roles...

Solar power remains a technology of the future, despite more than thirty years having been spent on its development. Throughout its lifetime, questions have been raised about how applicable adhesives are to the assembly of these advanced products, yet such doubting solar scientists underestimate adhesives' versatility...

In this latter class, performance does not come necessarily from formulation additives, but rather from the choice of monomers used to make the base polymer (although conventional formulations ingredients can also be used). These are sometimes referred to as "synthetically" designed hot melt adhesives.

The endless variety and adaptability of polyurethane (PU) along with its continued contribution to our daily lives, makes its importance and hence demand to increase in comparison with other thermosetting polymer materials. Polyurethane plays a vital role in the coating industry...

Although the general public may not realize it, they come into contact everyday with one of the most demanding applications for adhesives – books. Adhesives are used in the manufacture of books principally for the binding, but they are also used in the manufacture of the covers of hardbound books...

As Lewis acids, organotin (IV) compounds have been a popular choice to perform the catalysis common to a number of adhesive polymerisation systems. Silicone and epoxy systems alike rely on the right pH to elicit their respective hydrolytic and ring-opening polymerisations at an appropriate speed...

Modern packaging materials make possible distribution, extended storage, and convenient sale of food products. The increasing use of adhesives in packaging has focused attention on the potential effect that these materials or their components might have on the contents of the package and on the health of the consumer...

The shoe industry demands an impressive array of adhesives due to variations in materials, processes, types of footwear, and seasonal design changes. Equally impressive is the performance demands placed on adhesives in this industry...

Boat building was the first industry that started to use composites and to assemble it by bonding, starting in the fifties and sixties in USA...

Water borne adhesives, derived from emulsion polymerization processes, are particularly susceptible to performance loss on exposure to high humidity conditions. The achievement of performance properties similar to solvent-based adhesive has for a long time been the “holy grail” of water borne adhesive formulators...

Generally, discoloration is not a critically important criterion for adhesives since the bond line is often unseen and hidden within a joint design. However, in certain applications discoloration is very detrimental and a difficult challenge to overcome...

Admixtures for mortar and concrete consist of chemicals, minerals (fly ash, slag, etc.), and particulates (principally organic fiber). These admixtures are generally added to mortar or concrete materials before or during mixing for the purpose of improving workability or physical properties once the mixture sets...

Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) adhesives have become one of the most important adhesives in the woodworking industry. Commonly known as "white glue", this adhesive's many advantages include low cost, fast set, high dry bond strength, simplicity of application, and minimal harmful environmental effects...

Mortar and concrete made with Portland cement have been popular construction materials for housing and infrastructure for over 170 years. At first glance their longevity and popularity seems obvious...

Polyisobutylene can be used as either a base polymer or as a modifier in a variety of adhesive or sealant formulations. Polyisobutylene is a synthetic hydrocarbon that is manufactured by polymerizing isobutylene...

Heat-sealing adhesives are thermoplastic materials that can be coated onto substrate surfaces and later reactivated by heat and pressure. They differ from conventional hot melt adhesives that are applied in the molten state and cooled between substrates in a single step...

A release liner is a critical element in a pressure sensitive adhesive product – perhaps as important as the adhesive itself. Pressure sensitive tapes, labels, and transfer films must be protected from accidental contact with other surfaces...

Choosing an adhesives supllier with strong regulatary expertise helps converters and end-users meet food contact regulations...

Emballage 2006 was again a major international exhibition for Packaging machines, techniques and materials. With 2200 exhibiting companies and more than 100 000 visitors it is considered as the largest packaging show in 2006, worldwide...

Hot melt adhesives are increasingly becoming popular because of their fast setting speed, relatively low cost (materials and processing), and low environmental impact...

With so many products to choose from, making sure you select the proper sealant is especially important. Selecting the wrong industrial sealant, or applying the correct sealant in the wrong manner, can have serious consequences...

Epoxy resins are valuable to the adhesive formulator because they can create useful mixtures with many other polymers. Acrylate resins are only one of several families that are compatible with epoxy chemistry...

Under constant pressure to improve manufacturing processes, manufacturers face the challenge of selecting from an array of sealing technologies...

Two component (2K) polyurethanes have an established position as high performance adhesives, sealants, and coatings. However, 2K systems may be inappropriate for a given application because of metering and mixing equipment costs or because of impractically short pot life...

During the last two decades, significant advances have been made in the development of biodegradable polymers. These materials have been developed in a variety of forms, and thus have potential uses in a range of industries...

It's a competitive time for specialty tape makers, with many companies jockeying for position as innovation and customer cost pressures usher in new opportunities...

In previous chapters we have studied several types of adhesives for composites: epoxies, polyesters, structural acrylics… We are now studying other types available...

Innovative raw materials developed by Bayer MaterialScience AG make possible the formulation of thermoactivated adhesives for an extended range of applications - and they also join metal and plastic better than ever before thanks to a waterborne dispersion layer...

The completely cured adhesive or sealant is generally considered to be safe and non-toxic, although caution must be exerted when machining, grinding, etc. joints due to the proliferation of air-borne particles...

In this section, we will study several types of structural adhesives which are used for the assembly of composites: Acrylics, Polyesters, and others...

As we will see, when choosing an adhesive for a given composite material, the first idea that comes to our mind is to select a chemical type which is the same as the resin used as the matrix...

An important and often overlooked function of polymeric adhesives is their ability to restore worn or damaged structures to their original integrity...

The ability of adhesives and sealants to bond to concrete surfaces has become a subject of renewed interest. This has been due to several reasons...