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History of Chemistry: Family of Cyanoacrylate or Liquid Glues

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If you either put on a Band-Aid or stuck a Post-It note on your window you have encountered adhesives. Some inventions have given birth to other inventions, other inventions have found new uses. This is the case of the family of cyanoacrylates. In my house when something was broken my dad would reach for the Superglue or Gorilla Glue. In a matter of seconds the plate or cup was fixed good-as-new. Before the invention of these products I would have used Elmer’s glue and hoped after a long wait that the cup was fixed. The wait was almost unbearable and most cases Elmer’s left big clumps of glue residue. Dad would always find the misfortune of the cup. Now, just like the commercial where the guy hangs from his hardhat …show more content…

Baking soda was added to cyanoacrylate glue to fill voids in plastic models. If you ever watched a CSI program then you saw them heat up Super Glue to develop unseen finger prints on objects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of it as a medical suture in 1998. The name it is called is Dermabond. Archers also use Super Glue, with special applicators, to attach feathers or fletching’s to arrow shafts. Beauticians and young girls also use Super Glue to attach fake nails. Carpenters use Super Glue on pieces of wood to mount it to lathes so they can turn them into art or furniture. Carpenters also mix Super Glue with sawdust and spread it into cracks and minor imperfections in the wood to make them smooth. These repair methods are used by craftsman on piano soundboards, violins, cellos, violas to name a few.

Other uses of Super Glue are on the fingertips of rock climbers and musicians of stringed instruments where they need protection or repair of minor abrasions. The use of Super Glue in medicine is often frowned upon. Instead, 2-octylcyanoacrylate is used because of the toxic issue in cyanoacrylate adhesives. The fumes from the glue are a vaporized form of the cyanoacrylate monomer the irritates the inside of our noses, mouths, and eyes. This is because the glue reacts with the moisture in these areas. The Material Safety Data Sheet also list Super Glue as a inhalation hazard which could cause flu-like

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