Polyvinyl acetate (PVA, PVAc, poly(ethenyl ethanoate)), commonly known as wood glue, PVA glue, white glue, carpenter's glue, school glue, or Elmer's glue in the US, is a widely available adhesive used for porous materials like wood, paper, and cloth. An aliphaticrubbery
synthetic polymer
Some familiar household synthetic polymers include: Nylons in textiles and fabrics, Teflon in non-stick pans, Bakelite for electrical switches, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in pipes, etc. The common PET bottles are made of a synthetic polymer, polye ...
with the formula (C4H6O2)''n'', it belongs to the polyvinyl ester family, with the general formula − COOCHCH2ˆ’. It is a type of thermoplastic.
ester group
In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an oxoacid (organic or inorganic) in which at least one hydroxyl group () is replaced by an alkoxy group (), as in the substitution reaction of a carboxylic acid and an alcohol. Glycerides ar ...
s are sensitive to
base hydrolysis
Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water is the nucleophile.
Biological hydrolysi ...
acetic acid
Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...
.
The
glass transition
The glass–liquid transition, or glass transition, is the gradual and reversible transition in amorphous materials (or in amorphous regions within semicrystalline materials) from a hard and relatively brittle "glassy" state into a viscous or rubb ...
temperature of polyvinyl acetate is between 30 and 45 °C depending on the molecular weight.
PVAc dispersions such as
Elmer's Glue-All
Elmer's Products, or simply Elmer's is an American-based company that has a line of adhesive, craft, home repair, and office supply products. It is best known as the manufacturer of Elmer's Glue-All, a popular PVA-based synthetic glue, in ...
contain polyvinyl alcohol as a protective colloid. In alkaline conditions,
boron
Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has th ...
compounds such as boric acid or borax cause the polyvinyl alcohol to cross-link, forming tackifying precipitates or toys, such as
Slime
Slime may refer to:
Biology
* Slime mold, a broad term often referring to roughly six groups of Eukaryotes
* Biofilm, an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other and/or to a surface
* Slimy (fish), also known as the pony ...
and Flubber.
A number of microorganisms can degrade polyvinyl acetate. Most commonly, damage is caused by filamentous fungi; however,
algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
lichen
A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.bacteria can also degrade polyvinyl acetate.
Discovery
Polyvinyl acetate was discovered in Germany in 1912 by Fritz Klatte.
The monomer, vinyl acetate, was first produced on an industrial scale by the addition of
acetic acid
Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...
to
acetylene
Acetylene (systematic name: ethyne) is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure ...
with a mercury(I) salt, but it is now primarily made by palladium-catalyzed oxidative addition of
acetic acid
Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...
to
ethylene
Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds).
Ethylene i ...
vinyl acetate monomer
Vinyl acetate is an organic compound with the formula CH3CO2CH=CH2. This colorless liquid is the precursor to polyvinyl acetate and ethene-vinyl acetate copolymers, important industrial polymers.
Production
The worldwide production capacity of ...
As a dispersion in water (usually an emulsion), PVAc preparations are used as
adhesive
Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation.
The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...
s for porous materials, particularly for wood, paper, and cloth, and as a consolidant for porous building stone, in particular sandstone.
Uses:
* As wood glue, PVAc is known as "white glue" and the yellow as "carpenter's glue".
* As paper adhesive during paper packaging conversion.
* In
bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...
and book arts, due to its flexible strong bond and non- acidic nature (unlike many other polymers). The use of PVAc on the
Archimedes Palimpsest
The Archimedes Palimpsest is a parchment codex palimpsest, originally a Byzantine Greek copy of a compilation of Archimedes and other authors. It contains two works of Archimedes that were thought to have been lost (the ''Ostomachion'' and the ' ...
during the 20th century greatly hindered the task of disbinding the book and preserving and imaging the pages in the early 21st century, in part because the glue was stronger than the parchment it held together.
* In handicrafts.
* As envelope adhesive.
* As
wallpaper adhesive Adhesive flakes that are mixed with water to produce wallpaper paste
Wallpaper adhesive or wallpaper paste is a specific adhesive, based on modified starch, methylcellulose, or clay used to fix wallpaper to walls.
Wallpaper pastes have a typica ...
.
* As a
primer
Primer may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Primer'' (film), a 2004 feature film written and directed by Shane Carruth
* ''Primer'' (video), a documentary about the funk band Living Colour
Literature
* Primer (textbook), a t ...
for drywall and other substrates
* As a gum base in chewing gum.
* As an adhesive for
cigarette paper
Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardboard ...
.
*As the coating layer on Gouda cheese.
The stiff homopolymer PVAc, but mostly the softer copolymer, a combination of vinyl acetate and ethylene, vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE), is also used in paper coatings,
paint
Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...
and other industrial coatings, as a binder in
nonwoven
Nonwoven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres (continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing industry to denote fabri ...
sanitary napkins
A menstrual pad, or simply a pad, (also known as a sanitary pad, sanitary towel, sanitary napkin or feminine napkin) is an absorbent item worn by women in their underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gynecolo ...
, filter paper and in textile finishing.
Polyvinyl acetate is also the raw material to make other polymers like:
* Polyvinyl alcohol − OCHCH2ˆ’: Polyvinyl acetate is partially or completely hydrolysed to give polyvinyl alcohol. This reversible saponification and esterification reaction was a strong hint for
Hermann Staudinger
Hermann Staudinger (; 23 March 1881 – 8 September 1965) was a German organic chemist who demonstrated the existence of macromolecules, which he characterized as polymers. For this work he received the 1953 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
He is also ...
in the formulation of his theory of macromolecules.H. Staudinger, K. Frey, W. Stark, Ber. Deut. Chem. Ges. 1927, 60, 1782.
*
Polyvinyl acetate phthalate
Polyvinyl acetate phthalate (PVAP) is a commonly used polymer phthalate in the formulation of pharmaceuticals, such as the enteric coating of Tablet (pharmacy), tablets or capsule (pharmacy), capsules. It is a vinyl acetate polymer that is partial ...
(PVAP): Polyvinyl acetate is partially hydrolyzed and then esterified with phthalic acid.
Elmer's Products
Elmer's Products, or simply Elmer's is an American-based company that has a line of adhesive, craft, home repair, and office supply products. It is best known as the manufacturer of Elmer's Glue-All, a popular PVA-based synthetic glue, in ...