History

[Newton Hunt]

Cyanoacrylates are extremely rapid curing adhesives known as
instant
              adhesive or Super glue. These adhesives were
discovered by accident by
              Dr. Harry Coover´s group at Eastman Chemical
Company while doing
              some basic research on characterizing certain
polymers derived from a
              chemical called ethylene. 

              A cyanoacrylate adhesive is a very rapid
curing adhesive also from the
              acrylic family tree, but having a completely
different cure system.
              Cyanoacrylate monomer is made from a complex
chemical process. The
              monomer produces a very reactive
polymerization. The reaction or
              polymerization process is stabilized and the
monomer kept in the liquid
              state by the addition of a small amount of an
acid stabilizer material.

              When a drop of cyanoacrylate adhesive is put
on the surface of a part, the
              acid stabilizer molecules react with the water
molecules present on the
              surface of the part from the relative humidity
in the air. The reaction of the
              water and acid causes the acid stabilizer to
be neutralized. The
              cyanoacrylate molecules then react with each
other and form polymer
              chains without crosslinking.

              The amount of stabilizer molecules in
cyanoacrylate is very
              small--measured in parts per million--and very
little moisture molecules are
              required to cause rapid polymerization.
Cyanoacrylates begin to form
              polymer chains immediately on contact with the
water vapor on the surface
              of the part. If parts are moved during initial
contact, the polymerization
              process and polymer chains are stopped. The
process must start again at
              a new catalyzed site.

              Cyanoacrylate adhesive can be made from
different acrylate monomers,
              such as methyls, ethyls, butyl, isopropyl,
etc. These molecules differ in size
              and adhesives made from them exhibit different
physical properties.
              Methyls are the smallest molecule and seem to
work best on metal and
              rubber parts while ethyls work best on plastic
parts. Many modifications
              can be made to the monomers to alter or
improve their properties as
              adhesives. They can be toughened with rubber
such as in Black Max"!,
              thickened such as Quick GelTM or formulated to
have low odor, resistance
              to thermal cycling, or less sensitivity to
surface conditions which tend to
              stabilize the adhesive and slow down the cure,
such as in the PRISMTM
              series of products.

              Cyanoacrylates are very rapid curing and
provide high bond strengths on
              plastic and rubber materials. The versatility
of these adhesives make them
              highly useful in all industries. Some of the
larger application areas are in
              electronics for printed circuit board wires
and components, and in medical
              technology for disposable plastic medical
devices. Other OEM applications
              exist in the toy, small and large appliance,
automotive, and cosmetic
              packaging. MRO applications exist in all
industries for repair of all rubber
              and plastic parts as well as some metal parts.
The consumer market is a
              large volume user of cyanoacrylate adhesives
for repairing everything in
              the home from wallpaper tears to broken toys
to torn and false fingernails.

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