Adhesive

Description

Any non-metallic substance used to adhere one surface to another. Adhesives provide a wide selection of properties, solubility, tackiness, bonding time, and bonding strength. They can be used on nearly every kind of surface, such as wood, glass, metal, plastic, paper, fabric, and rubber. Adhesives are usually activated by water, solvents, pressure, heat, cold, or UV radiation. In some cases, surface treatment, abrasion, or an adhesion promoter may be needed to increase the strength or durability of the adhesive bond. Alternative binding techniques include sewing, mechanical fasteners and welding.

Adhesives may be classified as inorganic and organic adhesives:

• Inorganic adhesives: Water glass, Plaster of Paris and Portland cement.
• Organic adhesives: animal (hide, bone, blood, casein, etc.), or vegetable (Starch, Gum, Natural resin, etc.) or synthetic (Acrylic, Vinyl acetate, Cyanoacrylate, Epoxy, Silicone, etc.).

Please see tables below for more information.

Natural Adhesives

Adhesive	Examples	Earliest use	Composition	Properties	Applications
Albumin	Blood glue, egg glue	Ancient times	Protein-based made from blood or eggs	Dark color, water-soluble powder that dries to a water-resistant film when activated with an alkali	Used for plywood, masonry
Asphalt, Bitumen, Pitch, Tar	birch-bark tar, pitch, bitumen asphalt	Ancient times	Thick hydrocarbon-based liquids distilled from plants, wood or oil/coal deposits	Typically dark and viscous, softens with heat, may evolve volatile compounds; water-repellant	Used for boats, water-proofing
Casein	Milk glue	Mncient times	Protein-based made from milk curd mixed with alkalis	Water resistant; tensile strength eceeds most woods, non-toxic	Woodworking, paper glue, fireproofing; glass bottle labels, gilding leather
Gelatin	Hide glue, Rabbitskin glue, Bone glue, Fish glue, Isinglass	Ancient times	Hydrolyzed collagen made from animal connective tissue and bones; hides are acid-treated, neturalized and repeatedly soaked	Hardens when cooled; may be slightly brittle; water-soluble	cabinetmaking, bookbinding, sizing fabrics
Keratin	Hoof, Horn	Medieval or earlier	Partially hydrolyzed keratin; hooves or horns are fragmented then boiled and acidified.	Hardens when cooled; does not become brittle	Used for gluing and stiffening textiles, cabinet making, glass sealant
Mucilage	Agar, Algin	Ancient times	Polar glycoprotesin and exopolysaccharid etracted from plants and seeds	Viscous; soluble in water; edible; low bonding strength; sensitive to moisture, biodegradation and insects	Used for postage stamps, labels to metal cans
Starch	potato, rice, wheat; Paste	1847	Starch granules swell in water for form a thick tacky gel upon cooling	Soluble in cold water; become brittle with age; sensitive to moisture, biodegradation and insects	Used for postage stamps, corrugated board, wallpaper
Tree resins	Balsam, Dammar, Gum arabic, Mastic	Ancient times	Clear to translucent resins soluble in alcohol or turpentine; insoluble in water	Darken with age	Used to adhere jewels and beads, repair broken vessels
Wax	Insect wax (Beeswax), plant wax (carnauba); Mineral wax (Paraffin)	Ancient times	Long-chain hydrocarbons	Becomes soft with heat	Used to repair broken vessels; adhere pigments and inks
Rubber (natural, vulcanized)	Rubber cement; latex	1830 to WWII	Natural exudation obtained from plants, usually dissolved in solvent	Solvent evaporates as it sets; latex may be an allergen; waterproof, discolors and cracks with time	Used prior to synthetics

Synonyms and Related Terms

kleefstof (Ned.); adhésif (Fr.); colle (Fr.); Klebstoff (Deut.); adesivo (It.); adhesivo (Esp.); adesivo (Port.); adhesiv (Sven.); bindemedel (Sven.); mastic; cement; glue; mucilage; paste;

Resources and Citations

• AIC Conservation Wiki: Adhesives for Use Inside Exhibit Cases
• Irving Skeist, Handbook of Adhesives, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1977
• Matte Paint: Its history and technology, analysis, properties and conservation treatment, Eric Hansen, Sue Walston, Mitchell Bishop (ed.), J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, Vol. 30 of AATA, 1993
• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982
• Theodore J. Reinhart, 'Glossary of Terms', Engineered Plastics, ASM International, 1988
• Wikipedia: Adhesive (Accessed Feb. 2, 2006 and Feb 2023)
• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 14
• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998
• Multilingual Glossary for Art Librarians at http://www.ifla.org/VII/s30/pub/mgl.htm
• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000