Properties of solvent-borne acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives synthesized by a simple approach

Acrylic polymers are widely used for fabricating pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) with the inherent unique advantages of transparency and superior intrinsic adhesive properties over other polymer-based adhesives. In this study, we have developed and evaluated a method of obtaining by radical copolymerization PSAs for liquid crystalline (LCD) applications. Various factors including the amount of monomers, amount of cross-linker, coating weight, dwell time and thermal treatment are investigated for further optimizing the properties of acrylic polymer based PSAs to meet the emerging strict requirements for practical uses related mainly to holding powder and peel strength. The results illustrate that novel crosslinking reagents coupled with the thermal treatment at 70°C can make the resultant PSAs with the improved adhesive properties. The coating weight variation from 10 to 40 g/m2 can significantly enhance the peel strength from 4.0 g/25 mm to 12.5 g/25 mm with about 310% increment. If the dwell time of PSAs with cross-linking reagent is more than 10 hrs, the peel strength can be reduced down to a suitable value to meet the criterion for use. Therefore, acrylic PSAs with peel strength less than 20 g/25 mm and holding power above 120 hrs were successfully synthesized by elaborately designing the reaction system, which are practically applicable for advanced industrial applications.