How fast does an adhesive cure?

Adhesives require necessary curing time before bonding between two substrates. The adhesives are cured either at room temperature or by heat. All surfaces to adhere should be clean of grease, oil, and other surface contaminants.

Room Temperature Cure
This type of cure is a process where after applying the adhesive on the substrate it is simply allowed to dry. Condensation cure products will take 30 minutes to 4 hours to cure. Moisture cure products will take several hours to cure and need to be undisturbed overnight as the cure is dependent on moisture from the air permeating through the medium.

Heat Curing
Heat-cured adhesives do not acquire adhesion until the adhesive is heated above  100C. At this temperature, the adhesive will cure in half an hour, at higher temperatures the cure will be faster.

Curing for Silicone Adhesives
These materials require a good curing time of around five to seven days. Acetic acid or alcohol is released during the cure, they require a controlled humidity environment and exposure to air for proper curing.

The curing time depends on the thickness of joints, humidity, temperature and the kind of surface. Under normal conditions, a 2-3 mm joint can cure within 24 hours. Initially, the curing is faster but then it becomes slow.