Adhesive Tapes & Adhesive Systems

Adhesive tapes are one of the most widely used products in industry, from simple applications such as carton sealing to advanced aerospace applications, you can find adhesive tape in a vast array of applications.

 

What makes adhesive tapes sticky?

Adhesive tapes, also known as pressure sensitive tapes, are made by coating a pressure sensitive adhesive onto a substrate material. These substrates are made of many materials such as polyester film, paper, glass fibre, metallic foils and cloth.

Most tapes are self wound, however, some have liners such as double sided tapes to avoid the tape bonding to itself.

Pressure sensitive adhesive tapes are tacky at room temperature and require a small amount of pressure to adhere to the desired surface.

The three main types of adhesive systems used in tapes are rubber, acrylic and silicone:

 

Rubber Adhesives

Originally, natural rubber and now more usually synthetic rubber adhesives have high initial tack and certain formulations can be heat cured to a thermoset to create a permanent bond. They are used in lower temperature applications, usually a maximum of 130 °C.

 

Acrylic Adhesive

Acrylic has much better heat and chemical resistance and is stable under ultra violet light. It has a lower initial tack and takes longer to cure, but can withstand constant temperatures of 155 °C.

 

Silicone Adhesives

Silicone adhesives are good for high temperature applications, keeping their flexibility at temperature of 180 °C. They generally have lower tack which is often used as an advantage in masking applications.

All three of these adhesive systems can be formulated in specific ways in order to adjust some of the properties such as bond strength, temporary, or permanent bonding and resistance to the environment.