THE INFLUENCE OF SURFACTANTS ON THE PEEL STRENGTH OF WATER BASED PRESSURE SENSITIVE ADHESIVES

摘要

Surfactants are used in emulsion polymerization in order to control particle formation, to stabilize the aqueous dispersion, and to improve its wetting properties. Interesting questions which have early attracted attention [1,2] arise concerning the effect of surfactants on the film formation and the film properties, in particular the adhesive properties. These questions have become even more important with the increasing use of emulsion polymers as adhesives, especially pressure sensitive adhesives [3,4]. Surfactants can have two major effects on the adhesive properties. The first is the enrichment of the surfactant at the film surface, possibly leading to weak boundary layers. The second effect is related to the bulk properties of the adhesive; it is due to the fact that surfactants can influence the molecular structure of the emulsion polymers, e. g. molecular mass and gel content.