Hot-melt adhesive

Hot melt adhesive (HMA), also known as hot glue, is a form of thermoplastic adhesive that is commonly supplied in solid cylindrical sticks of various diameters, designed to be melted in an electric hot glue gun. The gun uses a continuous-duty heating element to melt the plastic glue, which the user pushes through the gun either with a mechanical trigger mechanism on the gun, or with direct finger pressure. The glue squeezed out of the heated nozzle is initially hot enough to burn and even blister skin. The glue is tacky when hot, and solidifies in a few seconds to one minute. Hot melt adhesives can also be applied by dipping or spraying.

In industrial use, hot melt adhesives provide several advantages over solvent-based adhesives. Volatile organic compounds are reduced or eliminated, and the drying or curing step is eliminated. Hot melt adhesives have long shelf life and usually can be disposed of without special precautions. Some of the disadvantages involve thermal load of the substrate, limiting use to substrates not sensitive to higher temperatures, and loss of bond strength at higher temperatures, up to complete melting of the adhesive. This can be reduced by using a reactive adhesive that after solidifying undergoes further curing e.g., by moisture (e.g., reactive urethanes and silicones), or is cured by ultraviolet radiation. Some HMAs may not be resistant to chemical attacks and weathering. HMAs do not lose thickness during solidifying; solvent-based adhesives may lose up to 50-70% of layer thickness during drying.

Hot melt glues usually consist of one base material with various additives. The composition is usually formulated to have a glass transition temperature (onset of brittleness) below the lowest service temperature and a suitably high melt temperature as well. The degree of crystallization should be as high as possible but within limits of allowed shrinkage. The melt viscosity and the crystallization rate (and corresponding open time) can be tailored for the application. Faster crystallization rate usually implies higher bond strength. To reach the properties of semicrystalline polymers, amorphous polymers would require molecular weights too high and, therefore, unreasonably high melt viscosity; the use of amorphous polymers in hot melt adhesives is usually only as modifiers. Some polymers can form hydrogen bonds between their chains, forming pseudo-cross-links which strengthen the polymer.

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