Use of Removable Adhesives for Sustainable Construction

Featured Sponsor Content

Reducing the carbon footprint in the construction industry poses a significant challenge. Developing and using removable adhesives can play an important role in addressing it.

Society’s growing awareness of sustainability and environmental concerns drives the need for more eco-friendly alternatives across industries like construction. Moreover, sustainable material choices that lower carbon footprints are essential. In this context, developing and using removable adhesives can play a significant role in helping the industry achieve its environmental impact goals.

 You can also read: HDPE: Superior Performance and Durability in Construction

The Current Industrial Context

The construction industry has long been a significant indicator of economic progress across cultures and eras. However, it has historically struggled with sustainability, often resisting change and lagging in adopting new technologies. This reliance on easy access to raw materials now conflicts with modern goals of sustainability and a circular economy, as society increasingly values these principles. Moreover, the industry is now prepared to prioritize recyclable and reusable materials over raw extraction and demolition at a building’s end-of-life stage. In Spain, for instance, demolition alone generates 45 million tonnes of waste each year, much of it landing in illegal landfills and causing severe environmental harm.

The shift toward reusable materials marks a transformative step for the construction sector, reducing its environmental footprint by extending material lifespan, enabling flexible adaptations, and minimizing demolition rates. This approach opens pathways for sustainable growth while aligning construction with broader global environmental initiatives.

Vitrimer Polymers as Removable Adhesives

Construction has long relied on adhesives for applications such as pipe laying, carpentry, and coatings, all requiring high durability. These applications demand thermosetting adhesives, which form three-dimensional polymer networks that ensure high performance across varied temperatures and environments. However, thermoset structures face one limitation: unlike thermoplastics, cannot be remelted. Consequently, the only way to remove them is by destruction, preventing any chance for reuse.

The use of vitrimer polymers as removable adhesives is increasing, as they offer the same properties as conventional thermosetting adhesives but can transition into a viscoelastic solid by restructuring their polymer chains. External agents like temperature changes, UV activation, or mechanical force can trigger this state change, allowing the polymer chains to reorder and the adhesive to be removed from the application.

Properties of Vitrimer Adhesives

Removable vitrimer adhesives provide strong adhesion comparable to thermosetting adhesives, while their unique, temperature-sensitive bonds allow softening and dismantling. This reversibility enables construction teams to remove and reuse bonded materials at a building’s end-of-life stage, reducing waste and supporting repurposing without reprocessing.

Kinds of Vitrimers

There are different ways to classify vitrimer polymers:

Table 1. Kinds of vitrimers

However, not all vitrimers can be used as removable adhesives. This depends on several factors:

• Adhesive strength: the vitrimer polymer must have sufficient cohesive strength.
• Ease of peeling off: To use a vitrimer polymer as a removable adhesive, it must peel off with the appropriate activation method, leaving no residue on the adhered substrate.
• Compatibility with substrates: the vitrimer polymer must effectively adhere to the substrates where it is applied.
• Durability and stability: the material must be able to maintain performance levels for the intended application for as long as necessary.

Benefits and Challenges

The main advantage of this kind of material is its ability to change its physical state and enable easy disassembly. This means the materials can be reused over and over without deterioration.

This quality enables these materials to offer a significant improvement in sustainability compared to conventional commercial adhesives, which have only a single life cycle.

Another major advantage is their self-restorative ability, which makes it unnecessary to apply additional adhesive or replace a part.

Construction Applications

Builing teams can use vitrimer polymers as removable adhesives across a wide range of applications, including:

• Pipe assembly.
• Sealing and installing windows.
• Sealing joints in structures.
• Adhesion of panels and coatings.
• Attaching decorative elements.
• Roof sealing.
• Flexible architectural elements.

Removable Adhesives: What’s Ahead

Removable adhesives like vitrimers have vast potential for development, and their expanding range of applications will drive further research and opportunities. In this context, AIMPLAS is playing a major role with projects such as ECOGLUE II, which have enabled it to acquire experience and knowledge bases to continue developing sustainable materials. As construction practices progress, integrating recyclable materials and removable adhesives better equips the industry to meet sustainability goals. By focusing on these innovations, construction can reduce waste, lower its environmental footprint, and work towards a circular economy. This shift points to a future where durability, adaptability, and responsible resource use drive a more sustainable industry.

By Manuel Asensio, Researcher, Construction and Renewable Energies Group, AIMPLAS.

Edited for online publication by Juliana Montoya.