Innovative Developments for UV Silicone Release Coatings
There are two UV-curable silicone release systems on the market. One is based on silicone acrylates and cures by way of a free-radical mechanism; the other release system uses epoxy silicones and cures in the presence of cationic initiators.
Both methods can be used to produce release coatings with special release forces, which can be adjusted by the degree of modification of the silicone backbone. Figure 2 shows the correlation between the release force and the ratio of modified to unmodified units in the silicone backbone. Epoxy silicones have a lower release force than silicone acrylates with a similar degree of modification due to their lower polarity. Polar organic residues linked to the silicone backbone have a higher interaction with the adhesive component.