The major users of these adhesives are the automotive, truck, construction and farming equipment companies. The actual market for these adhesives is anywhere that fasteners, gaskets, bearings or any mechanical device that needs to be secured or sealed are used in both OEM or MRO areas. Cyanoacrylates are extremely rapid curing adhesives known as instant adhesive or Super glue. These adhesives were discovered by accident by Dr. Harry Coover s group at Eastman Chemical Company while doing some basic research on characterizing certain polymers derived from a chemical called ethylene. A cyanoacrylate adhesive is a very rapid curing adhesive also from the acrylic family tree, but having a completely different cure system.
Cyanoacrylate monomer is made from a complex chemical process.
The monomer produces a very reactive polymerization. The reaction or polymerization process is stabilized and the monomer kept in the liquid state by the addition of a small amount of an acid stabilizer material. When a drop of cyanoacrylate adhesive is put on the surface of a part, the acid stabilizer molecules react with the water molecules present on the surface of the part from the relative humidity in the air. The reaction of the water and acid causes the acid stabilizer to be neutralized. The cyanoacrylate molecules then react with each other and form polymer chains without crosslinking.