Standard Adhesive Types

RUBBER adhesive systems are typically used for indoor applications with low-stress requirements. They commonly adhere well to low surface energy substrates and can be formulated for excellent removability. Rubber adhesives are often found on masking tapes, carton sealing tapes, duct tapes, and filament tapes. Rubber adhesives are not tacky by nature, so it is necessary to add tackifier resins to create the adhesive.

There are two main categories of rubber adhesives:

NATURAL RUBBER - These adhesives have a high molecular weight with long polymer chains. They typically adhere to LSE substrates and exhibit clean removability and good shear, but poor temperature resistance and aging properties.

SYNTHETIC RUBBER - Often referred to as “Hot Melt” adhesive, synthetic rubber adhesives are thermoplastics with low molecular weight or short polymer chains. They are more customizable than natural rubber adhesives for greater LSE adhesion with more tack and some temperature/UV aging resistance.

ACRYLIC adhesive systems are typically used for either indoor or outdoor application with more critical permanent long-term bonding requirements. Although acrylic adhesives are tacky by nature, often a tackifier is added to enhance its quick-stick properties. This is a benefit of acrylic adhesives - their polymers can be precisely adjusted during their industrial manufacturing process to improve the overall performance of the adhesive.

There are two main categories of acrylic adhesives:

SOLVENT ACRYLIC - These adhesives get their name because their polymer grains dissolve in a solvent. Typically these adhesives do not adhere well to LSE substrates but do exhibit better property retention than rubber under many circumstances.

EMULSION ACRYLIC - These water-based adhesives consist of spherical particles surrounded by a SURFACTANT in a water carrier. They are usually less expensive and more environmentally friendly than solvent acrylic adhesives, but due to the water-based properties, they do not offer good moisture resistance, leading to solvent acrylics being preferred for critical applications.

SILICONE adhesives are the most expensive adhesive. They exhibit a very high-temperature resistance and can handle extreme environmental conditions. Despite their bonding strength, often silicone adhesives are incorrectly perceived to have very low sticking power due to their low initial bond strength.

Tapes with silicone adhesive systems are typically used for critical applications where the tapes are exposed to extremely high temperatures and harsh environments or are adhering to other siliconized surfaces, as the best thing to adhere permanently to silicone is silicone.

Silicone adhesives are found on silicone release liner splicing tapes, Teflon tapes, and printed circuit board film masking tapes.