Waterborne, Nanocomposite Pressure‐Sensitive Adhesives with High Tack Energy, Optical Transparency, and Electrical Conductivity

Transparent and conductive pressure-sensitive adhesives are cast from aqueous colloidal dispersions of poly(butyl acrylate) (P(BuA)) and functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs). At the percolation threshold for network formation (at only 0.3 wt % functionalized CNT), the nanotubes remarkably double the amount of strain at adhesive failure and increase the adhesion energy by 85 % (see figure). The tack properties are explained by current models of adhesive debonding.