Hot-melt adhesives are increasingly becoming popular due to their fast setting speed, relatively low cost, and low environmental impact, according to “Hot Melt Adhesives Market by Products, Applications & Geography—Global Trends & Forecasts to 2018,” a new report from Research and Markets. Hot-melt adhesive systems also have the advantage of a broad formulation latitude, which helps produce a large number of products for specific end uses and substrates.
Consistent advances in raw materials used to formulate hot-melt adhesives have reportedly allowed adhesive manufacturers to engineer new high-performance formulations. Hot-melt adhesives are primarily made from thermoplastic polymers that include ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), block copolymers such as styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) or styrene isoprene styrene (SIS), polyurethane, polyamide, polyester, and polyethylene. EVA is the most widely used polymer due to its high versatility and low cost.