Dielectric-Heating Adhesive for Strong Bonds and Easy Disassembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Disassembling parts joined by thermosetting adhesives is difficult due to their high adhesive strength, mechanical performance, and resistance to melting, which hinders recycling, replacement, and repair in industries such as aviation, aerospace, and electronics.
Innovation Solution
A method involving electromagnetic exposure of cured adhesive compositions containing particles susceptible to dielectric heating, such as hollow nanospheres or graphene derivatives, to degrade the adhesive using electromagnetic radiation within a specific frequency range, facilitating separation of the joined parts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If thermosetting adhesive is used to join parts, then bond strength and stability are improved, but disassembly difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a reversible cross-linking mechanism using dynamic covalent bonds (such as disulfide bonds, boronate ester bonds, or hydrogen bonds) as intermediaries between the thermosetting resin and the substrate. These reversible bonds allow the adhesive to maintain strong bonding under normal conditions while enabling controlled disassembly through external stimuli such as heat, light, or chemical treatment, thus resolving the contradiction between bond strength and disassembly ease.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs parameter changes by incorporating thermally-responsive or stimuli-responsive components into the thermosetting adhesive system. By changing parameters such as temperature, pH, or exposure to specific wavelengths of light, the adhesive's bond strength can be dynamically adjusted. This allows the adhesive to exhibit high strength during service while enabling easy disassembly when exposed to specific environmental conditions or stimuli.
2Strength
If conventional thermosetting adhesive is used, then joining strength is improved, but recycling and repair capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static, irreversible nature of conventional thermosetting adhesives into a dynamic system by incorporating reversible cross-linking mechanisms. This dynamic character allows the adhesive to adapt its properties in response to environmental stimuli, enabling the bonded assembly to be recycled, reconfigured, or repaired. The reversible bonds can be broken and reformed, allowing the adhesive to maintain strength during service while facilitating recycling and repair operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes periodic action through cyclic application of external stimuli (such as repeated heating-cooling cycles, alternating exposure to UV light and darkness, or periodic chemical treatment) to control the bonding and debonding processes. This periodic activation of reversible cross-linking mechanisms enables controlled disassembly and reassembly, facilitating recycling and repair while maintaining joining strength during the bonded state.
3Strength
If thermosetting resin is used, then mechanical strength and stability are improved, but ease of disassembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical and irreversible cross-linking of conventional thermosetting resins with a chemical system based on reversible covalent bonds. This substitution allows the adhesive to maintain high mechanical strength through covalent bonding while enabling disassembly through chemical means such as hydrolysis, reduction, or other stimulus-responsive bond cleavage mechanisms, thus resolving the contradiction between mechanical strength and ease of disassembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite adhesive system combining thermosetting resin with reversible cross-linking components or functional additives. This composite structure integrates the high mechanical strength of thermosetting polymers with the disassembly-enablement provided by reversible bond-forming components. The composite material exhibits both strong bonding characteristics and controlled disassembly capability through the synergistic interaction of its constituent elements.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method efficiently reduces the structural integrity of the adhesive bond, allowing for easy separation of parts without damage, particularly suitable for large-scale operations and applications in aviation, aerospace, and biomedical fields.
Implementation Method 1
particles susceptible to dielectric heating which absorb electromagnetic radiation and convert said electromagnetic radiation to heat
Implementation Method 2
the particles susceptible to dielectric heating absorb the electromagnetic radiation and convert said radiation to heat to a greater extent than the thermosetting resin and/or a thermoset polymer produced by curing of the thermosetting resin
Data Source
Figure 1a~1d
Figure 1B~2
Figure 3a~3f
AI summary
An adhesive composition degradable by dielectric heating. The adhesive composition comprises a thermosetting polymer and a material sensitive to dielectric heating. The material sensitive to dielectric heating is selected from any one or more of hollow nanospheres, nanotubes, nanorods, nanofibres, nanosheets, graphene, graphene derivatives, nano/micro hybrids and mixtures of two or more nanoscale particles. The adhesive composition may be particularly useful in the assembly and disassembly of parts, particularly parts which have complicated and/or blocked joined surfaces. A method of joining at least two parts of an article together and a method of disassembling at least two parts of an article, using the adhesive composition are also provided. The adhesive composition may provide a reworkable nanocomposite adhesive. The adhesive composition maybe used to reversibly bond a biomedical or dental implant to a part of a human or animal body. Adhesive Composition