3M™ Epoxy Adhesives

Traditional one-part epoxies are rigid adhesives, often requiring a high-temperature thermal cure which results in outstanding strength at elevated temperatures. They are the most environmentally durable adhesives, standing up to extremes of heat, cold, humidity, many solvents and other conditions.

Innovations in one-part epoxy adhesives are creating more diverse portfolios, with formulations that cure at lower temperatures for greater flexibility and impact resistance. These innovative chemistries are also more conducive to bonding engineered plastics, leading to applications spanning from consumer electronics to military and aerospace.

Two-part epoxy adhesives have similar environmental resistance but involve two components which cure upon mixing rather than thermally.

Two-part epoxy adhesives range in performance from rigid to flexible, including some toughened formulations designed for fatigue resistance. Like one-part epoxy adhesives, they are resistant to extremes of heat, cold, humidity, many solvents and other conditions.

Different formulations of two-part epoxies deliver different performance for your applications:

• Rigid epoxies have higher tensile strength at lower elongations for greater long-term holding power.
• Flexible epoxies have lower tensile strength at higher elongations for greater capability to withstand differential movement of bonded parts. They also have higher peel strength and higher adhesion to most engineered plastics.
• Toughened epoxies have higher tensile strength at lower elongations for fatigue resistance and are best suited for dynamic stresses. They have long-term holding power, high peel strength and exceptionally high resistance against shock, vibration and impact loads.