Hydrophilic adhesives

The humidity requirement is probably most significant for polar or hydrophilic adhesives, for example,. some of the acrylate adhesives. 

A good example of a reactive modifier which has been used (14) to enhance properties of polyolefins is maleic anhydride (MA). The formation of maleic adduct in polypropylene (PP), for example, can be used to effect several modifications e.g. to improving hydrophilicity, adhesion and dyeabflity. Moreover, the polymer-maleic adduct has an availabla additional functionality to effect other chemical modifications for achieving the desired material design objectives. Reactions of MA with polymers in solution are described in the patent literature (15). 

Three classes of PSAs used most widely in transdermal systems are polyisobutylene (PIB), polyacrylate, and polydimethylsiloxane (silicone). More recently, hydrophilic adhesive compositions, hydrogels composed of high-molecular-weight polyvinylpyrrolidon (PVP) and oligometric polyethylene oxide (PEO), have been shown to be compatible with a broad range of drugs and are used in several commercial products.60... 

Water depresses the Tg of adhesives. This is worrying particularly for cold-curing epoxides with typical transitions when dry in the range 40°C-50°C, and underlines the need to select adhesives whose TgS do not drop substantially with water sorption. Several attempts have been made to relate the depression of Tg to current concepts of the glass transition(90, 91). The modulus and strength of the cured polymer matrix are also lowered by water-induced plasticisation(34, 41, 95, 101, 102), in a manner akin to the organic plasticisers often used to modify the mechanical properties of adhesives. Brewis et al.(94) showed that for one particular hydrophilic adhesive/aluminium shear lap joint system, the depression of Tg eould be used as a shift faetor to relate the strength/temperature eurve of dry joints to ones with saturated bondlines. 

Gary, C., F. Mikhail, and S. Parminder. 2008. Hydrophilic adhesives. Technology of pressure-sensitive adhesives and products. Boca Raton CRC Press, 7-1-7-80. 

Increased water resistance Increased tensile strength Increased block resistance Increased solvent resistance Increased adhesion to hydrophilic surfaces... 

Poly(vinyl butyral), prepared by reacting poly(vinyl alcohol) with -butyraldehyde, finds wide appHcation as the interlayer in safety glass and as an adhesive for hydrophilic surfaces (161). Another example is the reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) with formaldehyde to form poly(vinyl formal), used in the production of synthetic fibers and sponges (162). 

Most molded plastics have a very smooth, hydrophobic surface that must be modified. Chemical etchants are used to oxidize and roughen the surface. The resultant hydrophilic surface promotes good metal-to-plastic adhesion. The etchant is usually a solution of chromic acid and sulfuric acid pure chromic acid can also be used. 

For some applications, such as for repulpable type PSAs, it may be advantageous to incorporate high levels of acrylic acid because this makes the polymer more hydrophilic. At the same time, high levels of acid also improve the water-dispersibility of the adhesive, especially at higher pH where the acid groups are converted to the more water-soluble neutralized salt form. Since the high level of acid increases the of the resulting polymer, a non-tacky material results. To make the adhesive pressure sensitive, the polymer can be softened with water-dispersible or soluble plasticizers, such as polyethers [68]. 

The PSA formulator can also take advantage of plasticizers. For example, polyether-based plasticizers have both good low-temperature flexibility and good hydrophilicity. Using these properties, acrylic PSAs have been formulated with these types of plasticizers to obtain high adhesion to food packages stored under refrigerated conditions [102]. Similarly, polyether plasticized acrylics have been used to make repulpable PSAs [103]. 

Internal surfactants, i.e., surfactants that are incorporated into the backbone of the polymer, are commonly used in PUD s. These surfactants can be augmented by external surfactants, especially anionic and nonionic surfactants, which are commonly used in emulsion polymerization. Great attention should be paid to the amount and type of surfactant used to stabilize urethane dispersions. Internal or external surfactants for one-component PUD s are usually added at the minimum levels needed to get good stability of the dispersion. Additional amounts beyond this minimum can cause problems with the end use of the PUD adhesive. At best, additional surfactant can cause moisture sensitivity problems with the PUD adhesive, due to the hydrophilic nature of the surfactant. Problems can be caused by excess (or the wrong type of) surfactants in the interphase region of the adhesive, affecting the ability to bond. 

The two-component waterborne urethanes are similar in nature to the one-component waterborne urethanes. In fact, many one-component PUD s may benefit from the addition of a crosslinker. The two-component urethanes may have higher levels of carboxylic acid salt stabilizer built into the backbone than is actually needed to stabilize the urethane in water. As a result, if these two-component urethane dispersions were to be used as one-component adhesives by themselves (without crosslinker), they would show very poor moisture resistance. When these two-component urethane dispersions are used in conjunction with the crosslinkers listed in Fig. 8, the crosslinkers will react with the carboxylic pendant groups built into the urethane, as previously shown in the one-component waterborne urethane section. This accomplishes two tasks at the same time (1) when the crosslinker reacts with the carboxylic acid salt, it eliminates much of the hydrophilicity associated with urethane dispersion, and (2) it crosslinks the dispersion, which imparts solvent and moisture resistance to the urethane adhesive (see phase V in Fig. 5). As a result of crosslinking, the physical properties may be modified. For example, the results may be an increase in tensile properties and a decrease in elongation. Depending upon the level of crosslinking, the dispersion may lose the ability to be repositionable. (Many of the one-component PUD s may... 

In general, grafting of hydrophillic monomers have been found to lead to an increase in wettability, adhesion, dyeing, and rate of release of oil stains by detergent solution. On the other hand, if the monomer is hydro-phobic, the result will be decreased wetting by all liquids including oil stains. If grafting is not restricted to surface alone but encompasses the bulk of the backbone polymer, then the properties such as flame resistance, water sorption, crease resistance, etc. will be affected. 

Almost all urethane materials are synthesized without the use of solvents or water as diluents or earners and are referred to as being 100% solids. This is true of all foams and elastomers. There are many products, however, which do utilize solvents or water, and these are known as solvent-borne and waterborne systems, respectively. In the past, many coatings, adhesives, and binders were formulated using a solvent to reduce viscosity and/or ease application. However, the use of volatile solvents has been dramatically curtailed in favor of more environmentally friendly water (see Section 4.1.3), and now there are many aqueous coatings, adhesives, and associated raw materials. Hydrophilic raw materials capable of being dispersed in water are called water reducible (or water dispersible), meaning they are sufficiently hydrophilic so as to be readily emulsified in water to form stable colloidal dispersions. 

Salts of alkyl phosphates and types of other surfactants used as emulsifiers and dispersing agents in polymer dispersions are discussed with respect to the preparation of polymer dispersions for use in the manufactoring and finishing of textiles. Seven examples are presented to demonstrate the significance of surfactants on the properties, e.g., sedimentation, wetting behavior, hydrophilic characteristics, foaming behavior, metal adhesion, and viscosity, of polymer dispersions used in the textile industry [239]. 

The results of mechanical properties (presented later in this section) showed that up to 20 phr, the biofillers showed superior strength and elongation behavior than CB, cellulose being the best. After 30 phr the mechanical properties of biocomposites deteriorated because of the poor compatibility of hydrophilic biopolymers with hydrophobic natural rubber(results not shown). While increasing quantity of CB in composites leads to constant increase in the mechanical properties. Scanning electron micrographs revealed presence of polymer-filler adhesion in case of biocomposites at 20 phr. 

Another major drawback of polysaccharides is their hydrophilic nature leading to low degrees of adhesion between fiber and matrix [11]. Moisture absorption takes place by three types of mechanisms namely diffusion, capillarity, and transport via micro cracks [2]. Among the three, diffusion is considered to be the major mechanism. Water absorption largely depends on the water-soluble or hygroscopic components embedded in the matrix, which acts as a semipermeable membrane. While, fiber/matrix adhesion and fiber architecture also affect the moisture absorption. The results of the water sorption experiment showed an interesting trend. The extent of water uptake was not very significant and also did not increase linearly with amount of filler (Table-2). 

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