Incorporation of vinyl silane and epoxy silane oligomer into 2-EHA-based polyacrylate latexes via mini-emulsion polymerization and investigation of pressure-sensitive adhesive properties on polar and nonpolar surfaces

Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) form a bond to various surfaces when a light pressure is applied. PSAs combine the ability of being sticky with elasticity at definite proportions regarding the application area. The adhesion and cohesion mechanisms are well defined as peel adhesion, loop tack and shear strength in the literature and can be adjusted according to the specific requirements. On the purpose of having high peel adhesion and loop tack values without sacrificing the shear strength, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate-based latexes have been synthesized via mini-emulsion polymerization and latexes with high surface area were obtained enabling interactive relation with polar and nonpolar surfaces. Two types of silane selected among the mostly used species in industry were employed to increase the intermolecular interactions and proposed an approach for the incorporation of said compounds referring to the increasing demand of silane utilization in industry. N-dodecyl mercaptan was used as both chain regulator to adjust the molecular weight and cosurfactant to have colloidally stable hydrophobic particles in mini-emulsion polymerization. The incorporation of vinyl silane predominately led to an increase in shear strength owing to chemical cross-linking between chains. Epoxy silane oligomer, on the other hand, increased the peel adhesion and loop tack values considerably compared to the case of vinyl silane. The type of silane incisively affects the PSA properties and should be taken into consideration while constructing a polymer for a pre-specified application. The assumptions in question were strongly correlated with peel, shear and loop tack values, cross-linking density, molecular weight and gas chromatography measurements.