How does superglue dry?

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The question of what causes superglue to dry is often hotly debated. Mostly she joins the riddle of why a superglue stain cannot be removed with solvents. The answer is amazing, because superglue never actually dries.

This is what it means when a glue "dries"

The fact that superglue doesn't dry is by no means puzzling. Just keep in mind what the term "dries" means:

  • When something dries, something always evaporates, regardless of whether you are drying laundry on the line or whether you are drying laundry or dyeing. Apply glue to something.
  • Only a solvent can evaporate and superglue does not contain any solvents, so the glue cannot dry in the conventional sense.
  • By now you have probably already noticed that superglue gets hard anyway. The specialist speaks of hardening or from the polymerization. This hardening is based on a chemical reaction. The mystery of how this reaction works remains.

Here's how to solve the puzzle that causes superglue to set

  • Superglues are cyanoacrylate adhesives that have been scientifically proven to be stimulated by OH ions to so-called polymerization. So it hardens due to humidity.
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  • You can show that quite well in an experiment. Put two thick drops of superglue on a surface in a dry room.
  • Put a little water on one of the two drops. It hardens immediately, the other one takes significantly longer.

With this experiment you can show that superglue hardens within a very short time with water. That mystery there is now no more drying of the glue.

What else you should learn about superglue

  • As a by-product of the test, causing superglue to dry or polymerized, you now have two thick, solid drops of superglue, one that has hardened normally "slowly" through the air and one that has hardened in a flash with water. Hit the two drops with a hammer. The superglue, which hardened quickly, is brittle and unstable. If you accidentally spill superglue, pour water over it and you will end up with an unstable glue stain that is easy to remove.
  • Chemically speaking, cyanoacrylate is a plastic, and so are many Plastics can hardly be dissolved with any solvent, but with acetone. Superglue also dissolves in this. In addition, the bonds are neither waterproof nor temperature stable. You can get the glue off smooth surfaces in dishwashers and washing machines. However, the adhesive hangs very firmly in the tissue and can hardly be removed there.

Now you can always prove that there is no unsolvable puzzle of what causes superglue to set, even if it doesn't technically dry.

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