The Evolution of Adhesives

Abstract

From tree gum and animal hide glue to synthetic resins, adhesives have a history spanning thousands of years. Ancient people used glutinous rice paste to build the Great Wall and egg white to bond furniture. The emergence of synthetic adhesives in the 20th century completely transformed the industrial landscape. Today, adhesives have evolved from "gifts of nature" into tailor-made technological products.

Adhesives have a far longer history than most people realize.

As early as 5,000 years ago, ancient Egyptians used egg white, tree gum and honey for bonding. They also extracted gum arabic from acacia trees, boiled animal bones and eggshells to make bone glue, and collected pine resin oozing from pine trees as adhesive. In China, as early as 3,500 years ago during the Shang Dynasty, lacquer was used for bonding and ornamentation. Around 200 BCE during the Qin Dynasty, people mixed glutinous rice paste with lime to create bonding mortar for constructing the Great Wall — ordinary edible glutinous rice, no less. The ancients discovered that glutinous rice paste boasted remarkable adhesive strength; once cured with lime, it hardened enough to bind stone blocks firmly. Song Yingxing documented this technique in Tiangong Kaiwu (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature) in the Ming Dynasty. Even earlier, Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty elaborated on the method of boiling animal hides to produce glue in Qimin Yaoshu (Essential Techniques for the Common People), alongside tips for quality control.

In 1690, the world’s first commercial glue factory was established in the Netherlands. Glues back then were mainly made by boiling animal hides and bones, a prime example of waste recycling. A British man named Peter Zomel even collected discarded fish scraps, tails and fins to manufacture glue, securing Britain’s first glue patent in 1750.

Nevertheless, all adhesives of this era were purely natural. Though functional, they suffered from poor water resistance, moisture vulnerability and inconsistent quality. Heavy rainfall in one year diluted tree gum, while drought thickened it; production was entirely subject to natural conditions. A landmark turning point arrived in the early 20th century with the advent of synthetic adhesives.

In 1907, Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland invented phenolic resin, the world’s first synthetic resin, which was adopted as a wood adhesive in 1912. Epoxy resins emerged in the 1940s. Featuring powerful bonding force and low shrinkage, they soon gained widespread use for joining metallic and non-metallic materials. Anaerobic adhesives and cyanoacrylate instant glues followed in the 1950s. Adhesives advanced from bonding wood and stone to assembling aircraft and rockets. Stringent aerospace requirements for structural strength, fatigue resistance and adaptability to extreme environments directly fueled the rapid advancement of synthetic adhesives.

Modern adhesives are far from a one-size-fits-all solution. Specialized formulas exist for footwear, sports balls, furniture, bookbinding, transportation equipment and more. Custom formulations are developed for every material and application scenario: some demand flexibility, others rigidity; some withstand high temperatures, while others cure instantly. Adhesives have transitioned from natural gifts to customized technological materials, and adhesive engineers continue to develop lighter, stronger and more eco-friendly alternatives.

Every pair of shoes you pick up, every book you flip open, every vehicle you ride in relies on adhesives to hold its components securely together. Behind thousands of years of evolution from natural tree gum to high-tech synthetics lies the enduring ingenuity of humanity passed down through generations.