| abstract |
A water-curable hot melt adhesive system is disclosed. The system uses silane hydrolyzable functionality grafted onto an ethylene polymer component, and a tackifier compatible therewith. The ethylene polymer component is a copolymer of ethylene and a hydrocarbyl ester of an alpha , beta -ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid, and the tackifier component provides the adhesive with sufficient silanol condensation catalytic activity to accelerate water curing. The formulation is applied to a substrate surface as a hot melt at a moderate temperature, and subsequently cured by moisture or in a warm water bath. The invention also embodies structural compositions having glass, metallic or leather surfaces adhered with the adhesive and a method for making structural composites. |