Araldite

Araldite is a registered trademark of Huntsman Advanced Materials (previously part of Ciba-Geigy) referring to their range of engineering and structural epoxy, acrylic, and polyurethane adhesives. The name was first used in 1946 for a two-part epoxy adhesive.

History

The first production of epoxy resins was carried out by De Trey Frères SA of Switzerland. They licensed the process to Ciba AG in the early 1940s and Ciba first demonstrated a product under the tradename Araldite at the Swiss Industries Fair in 1945. Ciba went on to become one of the 3 major epoxy resin producers worldwide. Ciba's epoxy business was spun off and later sold in the late 1990s and is now the advanced materials business unit of Huntsman Corporation of the US.[1] In the UK Aero Research Limited. (ARL) - hence the name; ARaLdite, produced this new synthetic resin adhesive for bonding metals, glass, porcelain, china and other materials. Araldite sets by the interaction of a resin with a hardener. Heat is not necessary although warming will reduce the curing time and improve the strength of the bond. After curing, the joint is claimed to be impervious to boiling water and all common organic solvents. It is available in many different types of packs, the most common containing two different tubes, one each for the resin and the hardener. Other variations include double syringe-type packages which automatically measure equal parts. This type of packaging, however, is not exact and also poses the problem of unintentional mixing of resin and hardener.

Applications

Advertising

In 1983, British advertising agency FCO Univas set up a visual stunt presentation of the strength of Araldite by gluing a yellow Ford Cortina to a billboard on Cromwell Road, London, with the tagline "It also sticks handles to teapots". Later, to demonstrate more of its strength, a red Cortina was placed on top of the yellow Cortina, with the tagline "The tension mounts". Finally, the car was removed from the billboard, leaving a hole on the billboard and a tagline "How did we pull it off?".

See also

Notes

  1. Seymour, Raymond B. (April 1981). "History of the Development and Growth of Thermosetting Polymers". Journal of Macromolecular Science, Part A 15 (6): 1165–1171. doi:10.1080/00222338108066459.
  2. Jones, Peter (2006). Ove Arup. Yale University Press. pp. 215, 248. ISBN 0-300-11296-3.
  3. Murray, Peter (2004). The Saga of Sydney Opera House. Taylor & Francis. p. 54. ISBN 0-415-32521-8.
  4. "Armour uses Araldite". The Engineer Online. 15 January 2000.
  5. "Araldite Adhesive of Choice". EPPM Magazine 5 (3). April 2003.
  6. "In Style". Adhesives & Sealants Industry. 1 February 2008.
  7. Hayat, M.A. (2000). Principles and Techniques of Electron Microscopy: Biological Applications. Cambridge University Press. p. 98. ISBN 0-521-63287-0.
  8. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/f4ce7187#p00942dc
  9. http://www.brianmay.com/experts/expjan07.html

External links