Knowledge of Adhesive Tape

Adhesive Tape is commonly used in our daily life. 

It has been making breakthroughs in its functions in the fields of home, office, and industry, with the continuous development and improvement on technology of adhesive tape.

1. What is tape?

Tape is a product made by coating adhesive on one or both sides of the substrate.

We often call it Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA), which is a type of tape that is sensitive to pressure. It can adhere to the surface of other objects by giving a certain amount of pressure (by hand or other means),

2. Advantages of tape

Adhesive tape, as a special form of adhesive, has a wide range of applications in various fields due to the advantages that liquid adhesive does not have.

1). No need to pre-treatment steps such as coating or mixing before use;

2). No need for heating, only apply pressure to stick;

3). After pasting, there is no need to wait for curing;

4). Uniform and controllable thickness;

5). Can be die-cut into various shapes;

6). Low irritating odor during operation, no glue overflow, and no pollution to the production line;

7). Easy for storage, non hazardous material.

3. Categories of tape

Tape can be roughly divided into three basic categories according to its structure: single-sided tape, double-sided tape, and substrate free tape.

1). Single Sided Tape: tape with only one side coated with adhesive.

Basic structure diagram:

2). Double Sided Tape: tape with adhesive coated on both sides.

Basic structure diagram:

3). Transfer Tape: tape without a substrate, consisting solely of release paper directly coated with adhesive.

Basic structure diagram:

The above three categories of tapes are basic classed based on their structure. We also commonly use substrate types to name tapes, such as foam tape, cloth based tape, paper tape, or add adhesives to distinguish tapes, such as acrylic foam tape.

In addition, if classified by purpose, tape can be divided into three categories also: daily use, industrial, and medical tape. Among these three categories, there are more detailed uses to distinguish tape, such as anti-skid tape, masking tape, surface protection tape, and so on.

4. Explanation of relevant terms

1). Release coating: A layer of coating attached to the outer layer of the substrate of a single-sided adhesive. The main purpose is to ensure stable unwinding of the tape during use, without the problem of the previous layer of tape sticking to the surface of the next layer.

2). Backing: A thin layer of material on which adhesive is coated. There are many types of substrates, such as paper, plastic film, foam, non-woven fabric, fabric, aluminum foil, and so on.

3). Release Liner: It is the outermost part of double-sided tape, mainly used to protect the adhesive and prevent it from accidentally sticking to objects in contact or other parts of the tape. When using double-sided tape and substrate free tape, it is necessary to peel off the release paper and expose the adhesive layer to achieve double-sided bonding.

4). Adhesive: commonly known as glue, it is the most important of adhesive tape. The main types of adhesives include natural rubber, synthetic rubber, acrylic ester, etc. Special types of adhesives are less commonly used, such as silicone and EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate). According to different surface materials and application requirements, adhesive tapes containing specific adhesives need to be selected.

5). Primer: Mainly used to treat the surface of the substrate through technical means to increase the adhesion between the adhesive layer and the surface of the substrate. Common technical methods include primer treatment (coating a layer of polymer on the surface of the substrate) and corona or plasma treatment. The surface of the substrate is crucial for ensuring that the adhesive tape can be removed without leaving any residue.