Synthetic Rubber Adhesives
SourceThe use of adhesives is by no means a modern art. From time immemorial people have desired to adhere one material to another by the easiest and cheapest method. People still desire to do so, and as a consequence we have a modern adhesive industry. This discussion will be limited to that portion of the adhesive industry which has to do with the use of rubber and rubberlike materials. Natural rubber was employed as an adhesive in some of its earliest practical applications. Thomas Hancock, who discovered vulcanization at nearly the same time as Charles Goodyear, states in his “Personal Narrative” that in 1823 Charles Macintosh, whose name is still used for a type of waterproof garment, obtained a patent for rendering two fabrics waterproof by uniting them with a solution of rubber. They were called “waterproof double textures” or later simply “Macintoshes.”