Consumer friendly adhesive – Pressure Sensitive Adhesive

Study and Compilation by: Anuj Agrawal

Date: 17th March 2022

Pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are permanently tacky products which

adhere to substrates under the application of slight pressure (this may also
be referred to as tack). These adhesives do not require solvent evaporation
or chemical reaction for bonding and the bonding can be done at room
temperature which makes the application of PSAs particularly easy, safe
and consumer friendly. I can guarantee that we all have used some form of
PSAs at some point in our life – be it for caressing our wound using bandages, or fixing broken items using
tapes, or using labels for identifying our stuff. The market and technology of high-performance PSAs are
expanding rapidly which is the result of an increased scope in the current and new areas of the
applications. The statistics of world market share in the production of PSA tapes can be seen in the figure
below.

Bonding Mechanism

A PSA wets the substrate upon contact,

without the help of organic solvents or
water. This ability is like that of viscous
liquids. After adhesive bonding, the
pressure sensitive adhesive is able to
transfer a certain amount of load.
Typically, pressure sensitive adhesives
exhibit a combination of the properties of
liquids and solids, called viscoelasticity.

The plastic flow of a PSA during wetting and development of adhesion to the substrate is promoted by
a low glass transition temperature (Tg) and low molecular weight. PSAs usually have Tg which are 40
to 70 °C below the application temperature.

The ability of an adhesive to transfer loads between the bonded substrates, i.e., cohesion, is promoted by
polymers of high molecular weight, high crosslink density and high glass transition temperature. Both
properties are to some extent contradictory, which is why pressure sensitive adhesives are always
compromises. A combination of high molecular polymers of low glass transition temperatures and low

1
molecular resins mostly makes for an acceptable compromise. The application determines the levels of
adhesion and cohesion needed by pressure sensitive adhesives.

Figure: PSA Bonding Mechanism

Applications

Since PSAs comprise of a broad range of polymers and chemistries, it encompasses a wide variety of
application segments. The easiest way to classify the different application area is by differentiating the
PSAs based on their load bearing capacity (or commonly called as peel value). Peel value is the peeling
force needed to effect separation between the bonded substrates at a specific angle (90° or 180°).

It is necessary to optimize the adhesive and cohesive strength of the adhesive to meet the desired
application requirement.

Pressure Sensitive Peel value at

Adhesive 180° (N/25mm)
Extremely durable > 14
Durable 10.0 – 14.0
Partly Removable 6.0 – 10.0
Removable 2.0 – 6.0
Easily Removable <2

2
 Types of PSAs

Various chemistries have been explored to develop PSAs for different applications. Natural Rubber was
the first chemistry used to develop PSAs, and still dominates the list. Within natural rubber-based PSAs,
solvent based systems have been the most used system. But the global drive for shifting away from
solvent-based systems, led to growth in acrylic based PSAs. Though solvent-based acrylics are also
available, research in water-based acrylics has promoted quick developments for high performance
aqueous systems. The third-most used PSA belongs to the silicone chemistry. They are typically used for
those applications where both rubber and acrylic based PSAs fail to perform as per expectations. Silicones
have high temperature stability and can be applied on difficult to wet substrates such as polyimide, poly
tetrafluoroethylene, polyester, and inorganic glass fiber cloth.

Table below summarizes the types of PSAs and their key characteristics.

Natural Rubber (NR) Acrylic Silicone Styrene block copolymers (SBC)

Market share 40% 25% 20% 10%
By selection of the
monomer and Silicone PSAs SBC-based adhesives are generally
polymerization typically consist of a blends of styrene–isoprene–styrene
NR alone cannot conditions, many silanol-terminated (SIS) triblock copolymers and styrene
provide required acrylic base silicone polymer and isoprene deblock copolymers
properties; hence it is polymers are a silanol-functional compounded with low molecular
blended with available. siloxane resin in a weight but high-Tg resin based on C5
Chemistry
reinforcing fillers and They are available hydrocarbon solvent rings, which is miscible with the
tackifiers to get good as: Polymeric solvent (toluene or xylene). isoprene phase but immiscible with
wettability and strong solutions, They can be the styrene phase. It is important to
bonding. waterborne crosslinked either by note that the tackifying resin is a
emulsions, or platinum catalysts or necessary component for this class of
reactive monomer peroxide catalysts. PSA to obtain PSA properties.
mixtures.
Exhibits outstanding Can be applied on
adhesive properties Transparent, low surface energy
due to its ability to colorless, resistant to substrates, high
Advantages High shear strength
crystallize under oxidation and UV temperature
stretching. High tack resistant. resistance,
and peel. chemically inert.
Prone to oxidation and Poor adhesion to low
yellowing. Sensitive to surface energy
Disadvantages Expensive Difficult for processing and handling
temperature and substrates,
chemicals moderate tack.

3
Polyurethane and Epoxy based PSAs are also available in the market, but not as much as the types
mentioned in the table above. We can say they are still in the development stage and are trying to enter
the market gradually. Polyurethane PSAs are synthesized by reacting polyol with an isocyanate, which
results in hard and soft segments within the same polymeric chain. This combination of hard and soft
segments in the same chain enables the formulators to achieve viscoelastic properties and variety of other
properties for specific applications.

Epoxy based adhesives are already well known in the field of structural adhesives, but their development
for PSAs is being promoted to provide a cost-effective alternative to silicone PSAs.

Reference:

1. European Coating Tech Files. Vincentz Network. Formulating Adhesives and Sealants. Bodo Muller, Walter Rath.
2010.

2. Polymer Bulletin. Springer. Developments in Pressure sensitive adhesive: A review. Sachin Mapari, Siddhesh
Mestry, ST Mhaske. 2020.

3. Only Trainings. Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (PSA): Know How for Beginners As Well As Professional Formulators

4. Adhesives and Sealants Industry. Pressure Sensitive Adhesive 101. Kurt Schramer. 2009.