Eight innovations in adhesive technology

Technology advancements in recent years have meant that the images from the cameras on our mobile telephones are so good that there is no need for a separate camera for nearly all of us. We can listen to every song, ever recorded, for just a few pounds a month. We can ask Alexa to turn on the heating at home, even when we are not there. My watch is an enhanced fitness tracker, as well as telling the time accurately to within 50 milliseconds.

We often take these once magic items for granted. Sometimes, it can be disappointing, such is our expectation for advancement. We may take timely breakthroughs for granted, and raise the bar for what counts as 'magic' on the next one.

I sense that we need to be more aware of just how far we have come. We don't have to wait for the next new thing to feel the 'magic'. Instead, we have the chance to temper our forward expectations and simply notice it around us.

I took the opportunity to ask our team about what they saw as innovative products we have launched in the last five or so years, noting that innovation can be evolutionary, not just revolutionary. Here are just a few of the ideas we came up with.

Adhesives for wearables the first biocompatible, light-curable adhesives to be specifically formulated without common skin irritants and materials of concern for medical wearable and electronics applications.

Vision on robots we started selling simple benchtop cartesian robots for dispensing applications over 30 years ago. Today, we offer intelligent CCD vision-based programming and fiducial auto-adjustment systems for them, enhancing accuracy and programming speed.

Point-One Structural Polyurethane Adhesives with micro emission, meaning that have a concentration of monomeric diisocyanates less than 0.1% by weight, so no mandated training and much improved H&S.

Relyon PiezoBrush PZ3 one of the world's smallest, highly effective handheld plasma treatment devices, opening up this surface treatment technology to many more applications.

Born2Bond cyanoacrylate adhesives novel development in fast cure capabilities, including hybrid UV cures and two part systems.

LED UV curing lamps these have become the de facto technology for UV light curing, with extraordinary intensities. We have handheld versions which bring application flexibility and opportunity.

Low outgassing conformal coating Dymax 9771 meets ASTM E595, MIl-I-46058C and MIL-STD 883.

archytas series robot integrations, which are robotic dispensing, UV curing and/or surface preparation systems custom-built to meet your application requirements.

There are lots more examples, if we stop to think about it. Even if these products have been around for a while, they represent a frontier of innovation for their time. We must remind ourselves of the value and potential that these materials and tools continue to offer.