Novel, all-acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive compositions with inherently lower surface energy display significantly improved adhesion to LSE substrates such as polyethylene and polypropylene.
The prevailing trend toward the use of lighter weight and lower cost engineered plastics in automotive, construction, aerospace, electronics, and other industrial uses has created a need for pressure-sensitive materials that can bond well to these new, inherently low-surface-energy (LSE) plastics. This article discusses novel, all-acrylic compositions with inherently lower surface energy that display significantly improved adhesion to LSE substrates such as polyethylene and polypropylene. In addition, it will address evidence where these new compositions demonstrate compatibility with tackifiers historically known to be incompatible with more traditional acrylic pressure-sensitive polymers.
Pressure-sensitive polymer compositions have been used for well over 50 years. Many types of polymers can be made pressure sensitive via various formulation methods. (Meth)acrylic copolymers are one of the most widely used polymer classes for the production of pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs). They are relatively low cost, thermally and oxidatively stable, optically clear, and require little to no formulation to be useful pressure-sensitive materials.