Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives (PSAs)
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Manufacturing Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Products: A Coating and Laminating Process

How are pressure-sensitive adhesives made?

April 1, 2005

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are a combination of several materials that come together to form a "construction." A PSA construction is a combination of layers including a facestock (label) or backing (tape), an optional primer coat, an adhesive, and a silicone release coating on a protective liner. The PSA construction—whether a label, tape or transfer adhesive—is manufactured through several coating and laminating steps, including liner-release coating, adhesive coating/drying/curing, optional facestock or backing primer coating, and lamination of the facestock or backing to the liner.

An Overview of Emulsion Polymers Used in the Adhesives Industry

Demand for adhesive emulsions is forecast to expand 4.4 percent per year to 2.3 million metric tons in 2005.

Paul Ita

June 30, 2002

In 2000, demand for emulsion polymers in the global adhesives industry totaled 1.9 million metric tons (dry basis), valued at $3.4 billion.

Hot-Melt Polyurethane Reactive Adhesives Targeted for Specific Applications

What are hot-melt polyurethane reactive adhesives used for?

January 26, 2001

Although hot-melt polyurethane reactive (HMPUR) adhesives have been available for 25 years, their novel properties and the development of diverse products have accelerated their recent growth.

Pressure-Sensitive Adhesive Testing

Testing pressure-sensitive adhesives under standard conditions of temperature and relative humidity is always a preferred means to compare data from lab to lab and from lot to lot, but it is sometimes necessary to evaluate the performance of an adhesive under conditions that it would encounter in the field.

September 11, 2000

Many adhesives exhibit different properties when subjected to variations in temperature. Some of these adhesives are thermoplastic. They soften when heated and become more brittle when cooled. [In the case of pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs), the nature of the bond is nearly always thermoplastic.] If for the sake of this discussion we limit our testing to tack, peel and shear, we can develop a series of observations that can be applied to most testing situations.