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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 05 2019, @05:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the hard-to-pull-off dept.

University of Sussex researchers have developed an adhesive that releases in the presence of a magnetic field.

In a new research paper, published by the European Polymer Journal, [Dr. Barnaby Greenland, Lecturer in Medicinal Chemistry, working in conjunction with Stanelco RF Technologies Ltd and Prof Wayne Hayes at the University of Reading] describe a new type of adhesive which contains tiny particles of metal. When passed through an alternating electromagnetic field, the glue melts and products simply fall apart.

The adhesive works with plastic, wood, glass and metal and in terms of strength, is comparable to those currently used in industry.

Dr. Greenland said: "In as little as 30 seconds, we can unstick items using a relatively weak magnetic field.

Relatively little residue remains making recycling easier and the magnetic field levels required are low and safe to be around.

In principle, the formula could be applied to any thermal adhesive making it an innovation which could be incorporated into industry relatively easily.

Dr. Greenland said: "In essence, we could have a big conveyor belt of products going through a magnetic field where they enter fully assembled, and come out the other end completely dismantled.

This technique eliminates the need for harsh chemicals that are generally required to disassemble adhesives currently.

Journal Reference
Sara Salimi et al. Composite polyurethane adhesives that debond-on-demand by hysteresis heating in an oscillating magnetic field[$], European Polymer Journal (2019). DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.109264


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @12:40PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @12:40PM (#916209)

    If the glue and metal particles can be made bio-inert, this could be a real boon for people (often older, but not always) that have paper thin skin. In a hospital setting this could be really useful, and even if expensive, would be an overall cost saver.

    These unfortunate people suffer from skin tears if a band aid, medical tape or IV tape-patch is removed in all but the most gentle way. Tape remover liquid or cooking oil can sometimes help, but it still takes a glacially slow removal to avoid tearing the skin (and causing another infection site).

    I was with a relative who has paper-thin skin and landed in intensive care a couple of weeks ago. As I was passing the word, "Use no tape", along came a hospitalist (MD working for hospital, looked like he was about 60) who said he understood. He had the same problem and for his home use he searched out bandaids (plasters?) with the worst, weakest adhesive. He quickly printed a sign on letter paper, large font, and hung it over my relatives bed, "Use extreme caution when removing adhesive per order of Dr. Xxxxx."

    If the MRI is not in use--just pass the patient through at the end of their hospital stay to remove all the taped on bandages, patches, etc.(grin).

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  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday November 05 2019, @03:07PM (1 child)

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Tuesday November 05 2019, @03:07PM (#916271) Journal

    I agree it would be a boon. But an adhesive "with metal particles in it" doesn't sound like a very good formulation to use on humans. (Unless it's naturally antimicrobial colloidal silver, and even that can present problems in excess like making the skin blue.)

    Which is why the FDA is a good thing over, "Hey, let's try using this on there! Neato, it worked, I just wish the patient hadn't died from the sepsis!!"

    Just sayin'

    --
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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @07:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @07:48PM (#916482)

      Yes, I started with, "If the glue and metal particles can be made bio-inert..."

      One possibility might be the iron that is used in magneto-rheological dampers (MagneRide) or Ferrofluid where the iron is in a form that I've read is similar to the iron in hemoglobin (red blood cells).

  • (Score: 2) by deimtee on Tuesday November 05 2019, @08:31PM (1 child)

    by deimtee (3272) on Tuesday November 05 2019, @08:31PM (#916502) Journal

    Except that what they have made is a hot melt glue. They have come up with a way to heat just the glue, which saves energy and reduces damage, but it is still not a good way to attach bandages to fragile skin.

    --
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    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @09:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 05 2019, @09:11PM (#916527)

      This sounds pretty good...per standard procedure, I didn't read the actual article to learn that it's a hot melt glue.

      The tape-on-skin product (if it were developed) could have an adhesive formulated for a softening/melting point just below the temp that starts to cause skin problems, probably about 120F / 49C for short term exposure. Since skin temp is somewhat below internal body temp, this could be enough delta T to harden the adhesive on application, should harden quickly since the adhesive layer is very thin.

      The hospital had trouble keeping IV lines (needles) taped into my relative as it was, if this hot melt was stronger than conventional tape adhesive, it could also do a better job of holding to skin in general.

      As someone else noted, all this needs proper regulatory review before it could be approved for use on patients, by the FDA in USA.