Corrosion resistant hot melt adhesive to bind metals

Robert L. Sacci; Lingyao Meng; Monojoy Goswami; Christopher C. Bowland; Jeffrey C. Foster; Holly E. Humphrey; Damilola O. Akamo; Zoriana Demchuk; Md Anisur Rahman; Tomonori Saito; Vera Bocharova

doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112793

Corrosion resistant hot melt adhesive to bind metals

Robert L. Sacci, Lingyao Meng, Monojoy Goswami, Christopher C. Bowland, Jeffrey C. Foster, Holly E. Humphrey, Damilola O. Akamo, Zoriana Demchuk, Md Anisur Rahman, Tomonori Saito, Vera Bocharova

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Hot melt adhesives (HMAs) play an important role in many industries, and their demand is expected to grow. HMAs don't require any solvents, and their application results in the formation of strong bonds with the substrate upon cooling within seconds. These properties differentiate them from liquid glues and make them preferable for practical application. Currently, commercial HMAs are used in bonding lightweight materials such as paper, polymers, and cartons, and have limited usage in areas necessitating the bonding of heavier objects like metals. Here, we report a design and testing of versatile platform comprising an ion-coordinating polymer and ionic fillers for performance optimization and understanding of structure–property relationships, enabling the rational design of HMAs with improved adhesion to metal surfaces. All-atom Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and various characterization methods are used to elucidate the adhesion mechanism in model composite system containing polyethylene oxide mixed with chemically diverse salt particles. The maximum adhesion strength is found in composites with Al(OH)₃ and FeCl₃ fillers. Interestingly, the presence of Al(OH)₃ also provides a multifunctional anticorrosion property as measured electrochemically using the Tafel method. The discovered path to formulations with improved adhesion to metal surfaces constitutes an important step toward advancing HMAs for use in the structural and semi-structural metal work domain.

Original language	English
Article number	112793
Journal	Composites Part B: Engineering
Volume	306
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112793
State	Published - Nov 1 2025

Funding

This work was funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E, U.S. Department of Energy, under Award Number DE-AR00001326. RLS (corrosion study) was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering, Synthesis and Processing Science. JCF was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the U.S. DOE. Part of the Molecular Dynamics simulations were carried out at Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), which is a DOE Office of Sciences User Facility. This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is supported by the Office of Science of the United States Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725. This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan ( http://energy.gov/downloads/doe-public-access-plan ).

Keywords

Adhesive and cohesive forces
Hot melt adhesive
Ion coordination
Metals
Polymer electrolyte

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10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112793

Cite this

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title = "Corrosion resistant hot melt adhesive to bind metals",

abstract = "Hot melt adhesives (HMAs) play an important role in many industries, and their demand is expected to grow. HMAs don't require any solvents, and their application results in the formation of strong bonds with the substrate upon cooling within seconds. These properties differentiate them from liquid glues and make them preferable for practical application. Currently, commercial HMAs are used in bonding lightweight materials such as paper, polymers, and cartons, and have limited usage in areas necessitating the bonding of heavier objects like metals. Here, we report a design and testing of versatile platform comprising an ion-coordinating polymer and ionic fillers for performance optimization and understanding of structure–property relationships, enabling the rational design of HMAs with improved adhesion to metal surfaces. All-atom Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and various characterization methods are used to elucidate the adhesion mechanism in model composite system containing polyethylene oxide mixed with chemically diverse salt particles. The maximum adhesion strength is found in composites with Al(OH)3 and FeCl3 fillers. Interestingly, the presence of Al(OH)3 also provides a multifunctional anticorrosion property as measured electrochemically using the Tafel method. The discovered path to formulations with improved adhesion to metal surfaces constitutes an important step toward advancing HMAs for use in the structural and semi-structural metal work domain.",

keywords = "Adhesive and cohesive forces, Hot melt adhesive, Ion coordination, Metals, Polymer electrolyte",

author = "Sacci, \{Robert L.\} and Lingyao Meng and Monojoy Goswami and Bowland, \{Christopher C.\} and Foster, \{Jeffrey C.\} and Humphrey, \{Holly E.\} and Akamo, \{Damilola O.\} and Zoriana Demchuk and Rahman, \{Md Anisur\} and Tomonori Saito and Vera Bocharova",

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doi = "10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112793",

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AU - Sacci, Robert L.

AU - Meng, Lingyao

AU - Goswami, Monojoy

AU - Bowland, Christopher C.

AU - Foster, Jeffrey C.

AU - Humphrey, Holly E.

AU - Akamo, Damilola O.

AU - Demchuk, Zoriana

AU - Rahman, Md Anisur

AU - Saito, Tomonori

AU - Bocharova, Vera

PY - 2025/11/1

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N2 - Hot melt adhesives (HMAs) play an important role in many industries, and their demand is expected to grow. HMAs don't require any solvents, and their application results in the formation of strong bonds with the substrate upon cooling within seconds. These properties differentiate them from liquid glues and make them preferable for practical application. Currently, commercial HMAs are used in bonding lightweight materials such as paper, polymers, and cartons, and have limited usage in areas necessitating the bonding of heavier objects like metals. Here, we report a design and testing of versatile platform comprising an ion-coordinating polymer and ionic fillers for performance optimization and understanding of structure–property relationships, enabling the rational design of HMAs with improved adhesion to metal surfaces. All-atom Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and various characterization methods are used to elucidate the adhesion mechanism in model composite system containing polyethylene oxide mixed with chemically diverse salt particles. The maximum adhesion strength is found in composites with Al(OH)3 and FeCl3 fillers. Interestingly, the presence of Al(OH)3 also provides a multifunctional anticorrosion property as measured electrochemically using the Tafel method. The discovered path to formulations with improved adhesion to metal surfaces constitutes an important step toward advancing HMAs for use in the structural and semi-structural metal work domain.

AB - Hot melt adhesives (HMAs) play an important role in many industries, and their demand is expected to grow. HMAs don't require any solvents, and their application results in the formation of strong bonds with the substrate upon cooling within seconds. These properties differentiate them from liquid glues and make them preferable for practical application. Currently, commercial HMAs are used in bonding lightweight materials such as paper, polymers, and cartons, and have limited usage in areas necessitating the bonding of heavier objects like metals. Here, we report a design and testing of versatile platform comprising an ion-coordinating polymer and ionic fillers for performance optimization and understanding of structure–property relationships, enabling the rational design of HMAs with improved adhesion to metal surfaces. All-atom Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and various characterization methods are used to elucidate the adhesion mechanism in model composite system containing polyethylene oxide mixed with chemically diverse salt particles. The maximum adhesion strength is found in composites with Al(OH)3 and FeCl3 fillers. Interestingly, the presence of Al(OH)3 also provides a multifunctional anticorrosion property as measured electrochemically using the Tafel method. The discovered path to formulations with improved adhesion to metal surfaces constitutes an important step toward advancing HMAs for use in the structural and semi-structural metal work domain.

KW - Adhesive and cohesive forces

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KW - Ion coordination

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KW - Polymer electrolyte

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DO - 10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.112793

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Corrosion resistant hot melt adhesive to bind metals

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Keywords

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