Hot melts heat up: innovation helps formulative technology expand uses. (Research & Technology: Hot Melts).

Adhesives Age,  June, 2003  by David P. Nick

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DURING THE PAST 10 years, hot melt adhesives have gone from relative obscurity to a place of high importance among the formulating technologies available to adhesive producers and users. Hot melts have expanded their utility beyond paper and non-woven bonding to high-tech end uses in publishing, pressure sensitive graphics, packaging, electronics and recently into new high performance semi-structural applications. Driving this surge in activity are recent advances in polymer development and application technology.

Hot melts now enjoy about 13 percent of all adhesive usage on a global basis. Waterborne adhesives still have a greater than 60 percent ...