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Metallocene-based Hot Melt Adhesives: The New Bookbinding Expert

Posted 08 Oct 2020 by Harsh Gupta, Regional GM, India

Adhesives have played an important role in the success of bookbinding for years. Technological advances in this field has made binding a quick and reliable activity. Not to forget, continued cost advantages of adhesive binding, over traditional sewn books, increase profitability.

The global book printing market is anticipated to reach values of around $49 billion by 2024. The increase in the market growth indicates that printed books are not going away, no matter how much digitization happens in today’s world. Bookbinding has changed a lot over the last decade, and the transition increases the demand for reliable and high-performance adhesive solutions for a variety of substrates.

Bookbinding with plant growing out of it

The spine of the book is one of the most critical parts because it provides support to the entire book. The best suitable spine adhesive provides durability for end products to withstand long-term storage and repetitive stress. Overall, bookbinding adhesives are far superior today, compared to what was available several years back, and the adhesive solution for spines continues to require increased performance in bond strength, flexibility, shape retention, and versatility.

Premium Performance Metallocene Technology

At H.B. Fuller, we are continuously innovating to support the latest market demands and expectations. Easily enabling binderies to upgrade their spine glue performance, metallocene hot melt adhesives deliver excellent binding performance on magazines and soft cover books. It offers odor-free application with excellent adhesion on high quality paper stock. This adhesive can be used effectively in low quantities due to its very low density. Metallocene-based hot melt adhesives are highly recommended for binderies that are looking for cost effectiveness and process optimization. Benefits of this technology include:

  1. Performance delivered on all styles of perfect binders with a traditional wheel application system
  2. Cost efficiency due to lower volume and less equipment maintenance
  3. Excellent page pull value
  4. Superb thermal stability, which reduces adhesive-related downtime
  5. Very good high temperature resistance and excellent cold temperature resistance

In addition, metallocene technology provides excellent performance on roundability and lay-flat applications. It also contributes to the circular economy model by enabling recyclability.

Books are meant to be shared, and our metallocene-based adhesives are formulated for increased adhesion to prolong the product's life. When it comes time to recycle, the high melting point of these adhesives allows for complete separation in the process while remaining solid enough to filter. The metallocene hot melt range is classified as non-hazardous, and the low density enables the reduction of adhesive application by up to 50%. 

Partner with an expert

To bring on-demand products to market, you need a partner with technical expertise that understands today’s bookbinding industry. H.B. Fuller can help you deliver the products your customers want and provide the valuable support your business needs. At H.B. Fuller, we tailor our product and process innovations to meet our customers’ critical needs, such as enhancing product quality and increasing efficiency and production output.

Connect today with our adhesive experts today and find out more! 

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