Bonding Low & High Density Polyethylene with Industrial Adhesives

What is the best adhesive for polyethylene (LDPE, HDPE, and UHMW)?

Polyethylene (PE) is a plastic which is used in a very wide variety of everyday objects, for example in plastic bags, films and bottles. Despite its ubiquity, it’s actually quite a difficult substrate to bond with adhesives due to its low surface energy. Traditionally, bonding PE involves costly and time-consuming surface pre-treatment beforehand, such as flame, plasma or corona treatment. At Permabond, we wanted to solve this inherent challenge and thus developed the TA46XX range of adhesives, which form strong bonds on PE without any surface treatment or primer.

LDPE stands for low density polyethylene, and similarly HDPE is for high density polyethylene.  Lastly, UHMW stands for Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene.  Although PE is a thermoplastic material that can be challenging to bond, Permabond’s structural acrylics form excellent bonds on this substrate.

Permabond TA46XX Structural Acrylics Range

Permabond’s TA46XX range of structural acrylic adhesives provide great performance on all of the above mentioned polyethylene types. These include Permabond TA4605, TA4610, TA4611, and TA4631. Some of the key benefits of using these products are as follows:

• Make bonding low surface energy plastics (including PE) easy
• No need to flame, corona, or plasma treat surfaces
• Easy 1:1 mix ratio
• Non-hazardous for transport
• Ideal for bonding a wide range of surfaces
• Easy dispensing
• Full cure at room temperature
• Good chemical resistance
• Good impact strength

TA4605 fixtures in under 10 minutes. Choose TA4610 for a longer open time bonding larger surfaces. TA4605 and TA4610 contain microbeads that help ensure an even, uniform gap.  TA4611 is ideal for small gaps, while TA4631 has a very low odor (almost none!)

These structural acrylic adhesives for polyethylene have good impact resistance and also good environmental resistance.  If you require strong HDPE glue for a rugged application, one of these is undoubtedly your best option. Download the flyer for more information.

Other adhesives for polyethylene include cyanoacrylate, epoxy, and UV curable adhesives

Permabond POP primer can be used alongside a cyanoacrylate adhesive to bond PE.  Cyanoacrylates set almost instantly and provide good adhesion to HDPE, provided the surface is pre-treated with Permabond POP primer.  The bonds resist non-polar solvents but do not fare as well with polar solvents.

If you’re able to surface treat the polyethylene with flame, plasma or corona treatment before bonding, certain epoxy and UV grades can also be used.  A flexible epoxy such as Permabond ET515 is preferred for such cases.