Adhesives are everywhere in our daily lives, found in phones, cars, packaging, and more. Among them, Hot Melt Adhesives (HMAs) represent a significant segment of this strongly expanding industrial sector. These thermoplastics are particularly attractive as a result of their properties, such as fast curing time, solvent-free formulation, absence of VOCs, and strong adhesion. However, they also have drawbacks, including limited heat resistance, poor chemical resistance, and low mechanical strength. This project aims to address these challenges with two different approaches. The first approach is to introduce dissociative dynamic linkages into polyurethanes or polyamides. This will contribute to enhance polymer flow at elevated temperatures and fine-tune the viscosity profile while maintaining strong adhesive and mechanical performance of the resulting HMAs at
service temperatures. The second approach to improve HMAs is to convert large-scale thermoplastic copolymers into covalent adaptable networks. This method will take advantage of the high solvent resistance and improved thermomechanical performance of covalently crosslinked materials while maintaining high flowability at elevated temperatures. After an in-depth characterization, the final goal of the PhD research will be to formulate new HMAs for potential commercial applications after the selection of the most promising novel HMA materials.