**1.2 Background adhesive review**

Ever since their development, adhesives have been used in every industry for everything from constructing containers to adhering shingles to a roof, and nearly everything in between. Adhesives provide several advantages over other binding

#### *Adhesives and Adhesive Joints in Industry Applications*

techniques such as sewing, mechanical fastening, etc., including the ability to bind together dissimilar materials, make design choices that would otherwise be unachievable, and more efficiently distribute stresses across a joint, to name a few. However, adhesives also suffer from several disadvantages. Adhesives may experience decreased stability at less than ideal conditions (i.e., at high or low temperatures). Further, the larger the objects, the more difficult it becomes to adhere the objects together if the bonding surface area is small. Finally, where a high degree of adhesion is desirable so that the materials do not become separated, it may be difficult to also provide a sufficient degree of flexibility to allow the materials to expand and contract due to changes in the environment surrounding the adhered objects. As a result, the adhesive, or even the adhered object itself, may malfunction.

Properties of desired adhesive considerations include:

