Articles by Dave Dunn Ph.D.

You don’t indicate which substrate is on the outside, and this does make a difference in the possible choice of adhesive. Epoxy adhesives were traditionally used for this application, but they should be used with care as they may be too rigid.

You need to look at so-called “shadow curing” options. Most UV-cured systems are based on acrylates and methacrylates and cure free-radically by the decomposition of a photoinitiator.

All adhesives tend to lose strength on immersion in water. Water acts in two ways on a bonded assembly: It can be absorbed into the adhesive and soften it, and it can degrade the interface between the adhesive and the bonded surfaces.

The most desirable type of adhesive is one that sets quickly and has some heat resistance.

Bookbinding is an important application area for adhesives, and requirements are becoming more demanding.

Adhesives can be classified in several ways, including their material origin (e.g., natural or synthetic) and their type of cure (e.g., physical curing such as drying or chemical curing).

Adhesive and coating systems that use ultraviolet (UV) or visible light to begin the curing are intrinsically very attractive systems to the manufacturing engineer, allowing assembly of components and then “curing on command” by exposing to the radiation.

Acrylics such as tough acrylics and anaerobics are routinely used at 150˚C in situations like automotive under-the-hood applications.

Over a long career, I have worked with several adhesive and sealant technologies and have tried many of them at home.