Conventional adhesives such as epoxy resin, which are used to bond plastic, ceramics and wood,
New NTU adhesive can cure whenpassed through a magnetic field. This is very useful in certain environmental conditions where existing adhesives do not perform well. In addition, when the adhesive is sandwiched between an insulating material such as rubber or wood, traditional activators such as heat, light and air cannot easily reach the adhesive.
New glue is made by combininga typical commercially available epoxy adhesive with specially selected magnetic nanoparticles created by NTU scientists. It doesn't need to be mixed with any hardener or accelerator, unlike two-part adhesives (which contain two liquids that must be mixed before use), making it easy to manufacture and apply.
Authors: NTU Singapore
It binds materials when activated by passing through a magnetic field that is easily generated by a small electromagnetic device. This uses less energy than a large conventional oven.
The new glue has two main components -a commercially available epoxy resin that hardens with heat and an oxide nanoparticle composed of a chemical combination of manganese, zinc and iron (MnxZn1-xFe2O4).
The results, developed by Professor Raju V. Ramanujan, Associate Professor Terry Steele and Dr Richa Chaudhary from NTU's School of Materials Science and Engineering, were published in a scientific journalApplied Materials Today.The development can be used in the production of high-quality sports equipment, automotive products, electronics, aerospace and medical production processes. Laboratory tests have shown that the new adhesive has a strength of up to 7 megapascals.
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