In the late 1940s, chemist Harry Coover and colleagues sought a clear plastic, but one cyanoacrylate compound behaved “wrong,” sticking fiercely to lab surfaces instead of forming a controllable transparent polymer. Scientists later realized the flaw was a feature: the material undergoes ultra-fast polymerization on tiny traces of moisture and surface ions, creating near-instant bonds. After shifting from plastics research to adhesive development, cyanoacrylate appeared in medicine around 1958 and grew into a widely used commercial product.
Swipe through stories, personalise your feed, and save articles for later — all on the app.
