COMPUTER-ASSISTED METHOD TO MEASURE THE ADHESIVE PROPERTIES OF HYDROLYSIS PRODUCTS FROM COLLAGEN

Historically, hydrolysis products from collagen, such as technical gel atin and animal glue, were used as adhesives. With the advent of synth etic adhesives, those products from collagen became less popular. Beca use of the ''green revolution'' over environmental concerns, animal gl ues are again becoming appealing. Characterization of adhesives has, a t best, been subjective. The Jelly-gram and/or the Bloom values are pr esently the most generally used physical tests, the higher values deno ting the better quality adhesives. We will describe a method, presentl y being adopted by adhesive companies, that utilizes a commercially av ailable computerized texture analyzer. The advantages of this method a re that it not only measures the tackiness but also the work of adhesi on, and it requires only a small amount of sample. Subtle differences in the products that cannot be measured by the prevailing technology c an be determined by this technology. Furthermore, analysis of the stan dard deviation and coefficient of variation shows; that the method has good precision when relatively simple guidelines are followed.