Questions and answers in the adhesives sealants industry.
Question: Hot melt adhesives seem almost perfect. They don’t need any mixing. They have no solvents. They do require some heated dispensing equipment, but it seems pretty simple. Why haven’t hot melt adhesives become the dominant type of adhesive in the world?
Answer: Hot melt adhesives are exactly as you state. They are simple, require no mixing and are among the most environmentally acceptable adhesives currently known. However, until recently, hot melt adhesives were thermoplastic materials that would melt and re-melt. This meant that a hot melt adhesive could not be used on an application that might subsequently see temperatures near the adhesive’s melting point. Despite this weakness, hot melt adhesives are among the largest volume adhesive type sold in the world today, and are also among the fastest growing.