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Super Glue Activator Spray/Aerosol

aaron.c

aaron.c

Member
Joined
27 Mar 2013
Messages
395
Location
Manchester, United Kingdom
Hi All

We have finally started putting the hardscape in my tank. I have been super Cyanoacrylate super glue and an aerosol activator.

All going swimmingly, until I look at the spray can and it says it is toxic to aquatic life with long lasting affects! Balls!

I wonder if anyone else has done the same thing and if you had issues? I am hoping that when the solvent and propellant have dried/evaporated, it is ok?

I have seen so many people using this method that I didn't even think to check the bloody bottle :/

This is the activator in question https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C69LDK56/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

Hoping I don't have to throw out a huge and perfect piece of bog wood.

Thanks
Aaron
 
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The ingredient list is a bunch of variations of hydrocarbon chains and cycles with no other functional groups. These will all be reasonably volatile so will evaporate quite readily. I wouldn't want to breathe them in, but I don't think they will stick around long term. Let your hardscape set up completely and then air out well - maybe have a go with a hairdryer on low heat. Then give it a good thorough rinse (or two) and I expect you'll be good to go.
 
It will contain N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine. The molecular formula is C9-H13-N. It has a high boiling point of 215 degrees Celsius and is a liquid at room temparature, plus it is common commercially, so I do expect it will evaporate over time. Do not use a hair dryer. It is already acutely toxic and should only be used in open unconfined places, so to use it indoors again in the future I might consider an A2-rated face mask and standard PPE like nitrile gloves. The problem with evaporation might be the molecular forces holding this molecule in the wood as opposed to letting it evaporate, but just work slowly, with gloves, keep the window open, and test the tank with some daphnia before you introduce livestock.
 
Simon Cole said:
It will contain N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine. The molecular formula is C9-H13-N. It has a high boiling point of 215 degrees Celsius and is a liquid at room temparature, plus it is common commercially, so I do expect it will evaporate over time. Do not use a hair dryer. It is already acutely toxic and should only be used in open unconfined places, so to use it indoors again in the future I might consider an A2-rated face mask and standard PPE like nitrile gloves. The problem with evaporation might be the molecular forces holding this molecule in the wood as opposed to letting it evaporate, but just work slowly, with gloves, keep the window open, and test the tank with some daphnia before you introduce livestock.
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Interesting. So what does it do once it reacts with cyanoacrylate? Because that’s what people are doing with it. Ignore the use in an aquarium for now, the main use I see this for is mitre-bond by joiners. This product is <1% N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine. Here’s the SDS:

 


^- This video about superglue from Veritasium is pretty interesting. He mentions gluing things underwater with gel-type superglue (15:30 in the vid). I haven't tried this yet, but would be fun to glue anubias to rocks under water!
 
I got it sorted in the end without using it.

Filled up now and ready for 2-3 week dark start

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Knuta said:
He mentions gluing things underwater with gel-type superglue (15:30 in the vid). I haven't tried this yet, but would be fun to glue anubias to rocks under water!
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Quite a few of us including myself have been doing this for years, you need the gel type cyanoacrylate rather than the liquid (I haven't actually tried that), it takes about 10 seconds to bond. Don't use very much or you will end up with a big white blob on your hardscape.
 
Hi all,
jaisol said:
Super glue on its own is good for sticking cuts in fingers and stopping them bleeding,
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I tried this on a persistent cut on my finger, it worked, but it really stung.
Knuta said:
This video about superglue from Veritasium is pretty interesting.
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A few of us <"may have been there">.
Knuta said:
He mentions gluing things underwater with gel-type superglue (15:30 in the vid). I haven't tried this yet, but would be fun to glue anubias to rocks under water!
Click to expand...
It is cured by water, so you would have to be pretty quick.
bazz said:
Don't use very much or you will end up with a big white blob on your hardscape.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing that this would be even more of an issue if you tried underwater gluing.

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
I tried this on a persistent cut on my finger, it worked, but it really stung.
Click to expand...
As a former tradesman I was forever reopening cuts on my hands from work. Superglue is the only thing that worked long term. I still glue cuts back together but I’m more computer based these days so less of an issue.
 
@Simon Cole did you see my question above? I’m really interested to know the answer.

If anyone else is chemically minded, please have a look at my post about what happens to the activator when it reacts with the cyanoacrylate. I genuinely want to know.
 
@simon_the_plant_nerd - Have a look at <this article> - You can see therein figure 1 that this activator is attracted to the CA monomer due to opposing polarities. After it has attached on the end of the CA momomer and donated electrons, the other end of the monomer becomes electrostatically charged, and it is this that encourages it to bond with other monomers which "activates" the polymerisation. This article also explains how the cured polymer might degrade. Afraid that I am not familiar with the chemistry to tell you more about the degredation behaviour, but I am sure there is more literature out there if you search where this article has been cited.
 
They use N,N-dimethyl-p-toluidine as a hardener for dental cements so it likely becomes fairly inert once cured.

I don't particularly like using superglue in any case (I don't like the smell and I associate smells I do not like with toxicity) but if I did want to use it with an activator I would prefer to use some baking soda dissolved in pure water in a spray bottle. Very cheap and non-toxic.
 
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