The chemical reaction that takes place when the adhesive is curing is called anion polymerization. The chemical reaction progresses very fast thus result in instant bonding within seconds. There are two types of products currently available in the market, the methyl cyanoacrylates and ethyl cyanoacrylates. Ethyl cyanoacrylates comprises ninety-percent of the instant adhesive population.
The advantages are as follow:
- High bonding strength
- Instant bonding
- High chemical resistance
- Curing at room temperature
- High electrical insulation capacity
- One-part and solvent-free
- Applied in small volume only
While the disadvantages are as follow:
- Low elasticity
- Low heat resistance
- Low impact resistance
- Small clearance applications
- Not ideal for bonding large surfaces
- The odor is irritation
- Blooms
- Sticks to the skin (must be used with extra care)
- Must be careful in storage and handling
Instant adhesives are used in many applications in various industries. Below are some of the examples:
- Automobiles (door handle parts, door edge guards, tail lamp decorations, mud flaps, rubber on window frames, spark-plug lead covers and dashboard leather)
- Musical instruments (banjo drums, flutes, moving piano parts, pianica keyboards and guitar bridges)
- Electrical instruments (calculators, buttons on irons, rod antenna accessories, buttons on CD/DVD players, magnetic heads, washing machine’s rubber vibration isolators and gaskets in vacuum cleaners)
- Precision instruments (printer wiring, camera tripods, camera view finders, strain gauges and sewing machine parts)
- Other applications such as carrier wheels, syringe needles, frangible disks in fire extinguishers, rubber mat fasteners, packing rubber in Hume pipes, blood pressure meters, felt-tipped pens and dolls
Instant adhesives are great and easy to use because of its instant bonding. The structure and the substance reactions contributed to its instant bonding. Compared to epoxy, it is not an ideal bonding agent because of some of its disadvantages such as the low impact resistance, low heat resistance and low water resistance.
Studies show that all of these advantages will be eliminated in the near future. Manufacturers are looking for the perfect chemical to add to the group and develop a better version of the adhesive.
Once it has established an electrical conducting property, it may be used in more electrical and electronic applications. Eliminating other factors such as the odor will also widen the application environment in which the adhesive can be used making the product more versatile someday. An enhanced version of the product will be considered a more essential bonding age