In search of Glue.

Making two materials stick together has been the aim of many human endeavours. There are many examples down through the years. of attempts at creating an adhesive paste that could stick anything and everything. It was one of the many goals of the alchemist guilds, along with a mixture that could dissolve everything and a way to turn lead into gold.

How Henry Coover discovered cyanoacrylate

However, it was the work of a plastics manufacturer in the Second World war who found the answer quite by accident. This was the work of Henry Coover and his team. Looking to create plastic gun sights that were see-through. They proved to be too sticky so they moved onto heat shielding for aircraft canopies. Again, they had no luck, but the stickiness remained. It soon became clear to Coover that this cyanoacrylate could be used in other ways, namely as a glue to bind things that normally wouldn’t be attached at all.

From welding and riveting to modern adhesives

Metal bonding adhesives, like those from www.ct1.com/product-applications/metal-to-metal-adhesive/ are now a mainstay of the industry and the home. Previously, the only way to get metal to stick together was by literally welding them in place or riveting them. Both were effective, but they left the subject open to rust and corrosion, especially the riveted parts. Also, welding highly flammable items together was impossible as it relied on heat and flame.

The invention of these types of glue is one of the most important technological advances of the twentieth century.

Summary

Creating a truly universal adhesive was a long-standing human goal, pursued even by medieval alchemist guilds. The breakthrough came by accident during the Second World War, when plastics manufacturer Henry Coover discovered a highly sticky compound while developing gun sights and aircraft canopy shielding. Metal bonding adhesives developed from this discovery have since become a mainstay of industry and the home, replacing much of the welding and riveting once needed to join metal.

Questions this article raises

• What was cyanoacrylate originally meant to be used for?
• How do modern metal bonding adhesives compare with welding?
• Why did riveted metal joints tend to rust faster?