Traditional solution acrylic polymers for pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) are synthesized using conventional free radical initiation systems based upon organic peroxide or azo compounds1. Such syntheses are heat activated and employ solvent reflux temperatures during the polymerization process. The resulting acrylic polymers are formed with a relatively broad molecular weight distribution that can diminish both the processing and adhesive performance of the final product. To overcome this limitation, a variety of controlled radical polymerization (CRP) methods have been developed to synthesize acrylic polymers with controlled architectures including nitroxide-mediated CRP (NM-CRP), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT).
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