The effect of varied monomer composition on adhesive performance and peeling master curves for acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesives

A group of pressure-sensitive adhesives were prepared with constant glass transition temperature, using emulsion polymerization. The monomers chosen were butyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, and methyl methacrylate, along with a small amount of acrylic acid. The proportion of acrylic acid monomer was held constant for each polymer preparation but acrylic ester monomer levels were varied. The glass transition temperatures of the acrylate copolymers were measured by using differential scanning calorimetry. Drying and weighing the tetrahydrofuran-insoluble polymer fractions were used to determine the polymer gel fractions. Films of constant coating thickness were applied to poly(ethylene terephthalate) film and adhesive properties (tack and shear) were examined. Peel was examined through the construction of master curves derived from peel tests conducted over a range of temperatures and peel rates. As the 2-ethylhexyl acrylate content increased, the latex gel fractions were found to increase. With increasing EHA and gel fraction, peel shear was found to increase. When peel force master curves were compared, divergence in peel master curves occurred as peel rates increased where polymers with higher butyl acrylate contents reached greater peel stress values. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.