Definition
An adhesive is a material capable of holding materials together by surface attachment. Valence forces are not required in order that excellent adhesion be obtained since the van der Waals forces are in themselves sufficient to cause excellent adhesion. The early adhesives were natural products (e.g., glues, starch, natural resins), but most modern adhesives are based on synthetic polymers (e.g., polyacrylates). For an adhesive joint to be formed, the adhesive must move into the bond area and remain there until the bond is completely established. The rheology of the polymer systems used as adhesives plays a significant part in adhesion. For adhesion to occur, intimate interaction of the adhesive and substrate must occur, and this requires adequate wetting and spreading of the adhesive.
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© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Tadros, T. (2013). Adhesive. In: Tadros, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Colloid and Interface Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20665-8_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20665-8_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-20664-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-20665-8
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