Adhesive

1. An adhesive comprising:

(A) a multivalent vinyl ether compound;

(B) a compound including two or more of a constitutional unit represented by Formula (b); and

(C) a thermoplastic resin,

Formula (b) expressed as follows:

wherein Z 1 represents a group resulting from removing (n 1 +2) hydrogen atoms from a structural formula of a compound selected from a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, a saturated or unsaturated alicyclic hydrocarbon, an aromatic hydrocarbon, a heterocyclic compound, and a compound including two or more of these compounds bonded to each other through a single bond or a linkage group; X is, independently in each occurrence, selected from hydroxy and carboxy; and n 1 represents an integer of 1 or more, where n 1 occurrences of X may be identical to or different from each other,

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) is at least one compound selected from the group consisting of:

poly(vinyl acetal) resins; and

polyester resins.

2. The adhesive according to claim 1 ,

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is a compound represented by Formula (a):

wherein Z 2 represents a group resulting from removing n 2 hydrogen atoms from a structural formula of a compound selected from a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, a saturated or unsaturated alicyclic hydrocarbon, an aromatic hydrocarbon, a heterocyclic compound, and a compound including two or more of these compounds bonded to each other through a single bond or a linkage group; and n 2 represents an integer of 2 or more.

3. The adhesive according to claim 2 ,

wherein the compound (B) has a weight-average molecular weight of 1500 or more as determined by GPC and calibrated with a polystyrene standard.

4. The adhesive according to claim 2 ,

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) has a weight-average molecular weight of 1500 or more as determined by GPC and calibrated with a polystyrene standard.

5. The adhesive according to claim 2 ,

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is present in such an amount that an amount of vinyl ether group in the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is 0.01 to 10 moles per mole of the totality of hydroxy group and carboxy group in the compound (B),

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) is present in an amount of 0.1 to 3 parts by weight per 1 part by weight of the compound (B), and

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A), the compound (B), and the thermoplastic resin (C) are present in combination in a total content of 70 to 99.9 weight percent of a totality of non-volatile components in the adhesive.

6. The adhesive according to claim 1 ,

wherein the compound (B) has a weight-average molecular weight of 1500 or more as determined by GPC and calibrated with a polystyrene standard.

7. The adhesive according to claim 6 ,

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) has a weight-average molecular weight of 1500 or more as determined by GPC and calibrated with a polystyrene standard.

8. The adhesive according to claim 6 ,

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is present in such an amount that an amount of vinyl ether group in the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is 0.01 to 10 moles per mole of the totality of hydroxy group and carboxy group in the compound (B),

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) is present in an amount of 0.1 to 3 parts by weight per 1 part by weight of the compound (B), and

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A), the compound (B), and the thermoplastic resin (C) are present in combination in a total content of 70 to 99.9 weight percent of a totality of non-volatile components in the adhesive.

9. The adhesive according to claim 1 ,

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) has a weight-average molecular weight of 1500 or more as determined by GPC and calibrated with a polystyrene standard.

10. The adhesive according to claim 1 ,

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is present in such an amount that an amount of vinyl ether group in the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) is 0.01 to 10 moles per mole of the totality of hydroxy group and carboxy group in the compound (B),

wherein the thermoplastic resin (C) is present in an amount of 0.1 to 3 parts by weight per 1 part by weight of the compound (B), and

wherein the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A), the compound (B), and the thermoplastic resin (C) are present in combination in a total content of 70 to 99.9 weight percent of a totality of non-volatile components in the adhesive.

11. The adhesive according to claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a monovalent carboxylic acid represented by Formula (d) and a monohydric alcohol represented by Formula (e),

Formulae (d) and (e) expressed as follows:

Z 3 —COOH  (d)

wherein Z 3 represents a group resulting from removing one hydrogen atom from a structural formula of a compound selected from the group consisting of saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, saturated or unsaturated alicyclic hydrocarbons, and aromatic hydrocarbons, each of which may have one or more substituents excluding carboxy,

Z 4 —OH  (e)

wherein Z 4 represents a group resulting from removing one hydrogen atom from a structural formula of an aromatic hydrocarbon which may have one or more substituents excluding hydroxy.

12. The adhesive according to claim 1 , further comprising

an antioxidant in an amount of 0.01 to 15 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of a totality of the compound (B) and the thermoplastic resin (C).

13. An adhesive film comprising:

a polymer between:

(A) a multivalent vinyl ether compound, and

(B) a compound including two or more of a constitutional unit represented by Formula (b); and

(C) a thermoplastic resin,

Formula (b) expressed as follows:

wherein Z 1 represents a group resulting from removing (n 1 +2) hydrogen atoms from a structural formula of a compound selected from a saturated or unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon, a saturated or unsaturated alicyclic hydrocarbon, an aromatic hydrocarbon, a heterocyclic compound, and a compound including two or more of these compounds bonded to each other through a single bond or a linkage group; X is, independently in each occurrence, selected from hydroxy and carboxy; and n 1 represents an integer of 1 or more, where n 1 occurrences of X may be identical to or different from each other.

14. A method for temporarily securing an adherend to a support using an adhesive, the method comprising:

a securing step of subjecting the adhesive according to claim 1 to a heat treatment to form a polymer between the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) and the compound (B) each contained in the adhesive, and subsequently solidifying the adhesive to secure the adherend to the support; and

a debonding step of subjecting the solidified adhesive to a heat treatment at a temperature equal to or higher than a softening point of the polymer to soften or liquefy the adhesive to thereby debond the adherend from the support.

15. A method for processing an adherend while being temporarily secured to a support using an adhesive, the method comprising:

a securing step of subjecting the adhesive according to claim 1 to a heat treatment to form a polymer between the multivalent vinyl ether compound (A) and the compound (B) each contained in the adhesive, and subsequently solidifying the adhesive to secure the adherend to the support;

a processing step of processing the secured adherend; and

a debonding step of subjecting the solidified adhesive to a heat treatment at a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point of the polymer to soften or liquefy the adhesive to thereby debond the adherend from the support.