An adhesive is any substance applied to the surfaces of materials that binds them together and resists separation. The term "adhesive" may be used interchangeably with glue, cement, mucilage, or paste. The use of adhesives offers many advantages over binding techniques such as sewing, mechanical fastening, thermal bonding, etc. Disadvantages of adhesive use include decreased stability at high temperatures, relative weakness in bonding large objects with a small bonding surface area, and greater difficulty in separating objects during testing. Adhesives may be found naturally or produced synthetically. Some modern adhesives are extremely strong, and are becoming increasingly important in modern construction and industry.

Adhesives based on synthetic resins and rubbers excel in versatility and performance. Adhesives cure when the small resin molecules join together to form extremely large molecules known as polymers. The polymers used in synthetic adhesives fall into two general categories—thermoplastics and thermosets. The adhesives and sealants are two chemically similar but functionally different groups of formulated products.

Types of adhesives are- wet adhesives, reaction adhesives, single component reaction adhesives, contact adhesives, hot-melted adhesives, and pressure sensitive adhesives.

Importance of adhesives are- Higher moisture resistance, faster cure time, increased chemical resistance, Superior high temperature resistance.

A very important component of the adhesive systems is the solvent. The low viscosity of primers and primer-adhesive resins is partially due to the dissolution of monomers in a solvent.

Synthetic adhesives are based on elastomers, thermoplastics, emulsions, and thermosets. Examples of thermosetting adhesives are: epoxy, polyurethane, cyanoacrylate and acrylic polymers

The adhesive manufacturing market was over US$11 billion in 2011 in the United States. In the course of time and during their development, adhesives have gained a stable position in an increasing number of production processes. Market researchers forecast a turnover of almost US$50 billion for the global adhesives market in 2019. Especially the dynamic economic development in emerging countries such as China, India, Russia or Brazil will cause a rising demand for adhesives in the future. The adhesives segment dominates the global adhesives and sealants market; with a share of more than 75%.The growth projections include a particular strong growth expected in the APAC region, which will make it the largest global market. While the global demand for adhesives and sealants is projected to average an annual growth of 4-4.5%.The global usage of adhesives and sealants represented a market of 12.2 million tons of formulated products and a value of €30 billion. According to a new market research, adhesives in global composites industry is likely to remain profitable over the forecast period (2014-2019) and expected to reach an estimated value of $1,170 million by 2019.

Further information:

Adhesives formulary handbook describes detailed information on the subject. The  major contents of the book are: home construction and related adhesives, fabric adhesives, film adhesives, flocking adhesive, foam adhesives, industrial adhesives, solid fiber, fiberboard and corrugated board adhesives, packing adhesives, general purpose adhesives, industrial coating, paper board and corrugated board coating, pressure sensitive adhesives, oil-based coating, plastisol adhesives and coating, caulking compounds, glazing compound, spackling compound etc.

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