UV-curable hotmelt pressure sensitive adhesives

Ashland Performance Materials, a commercial unit of Ashland Inc has introduced Arocure 100% solids, UV-curable hotmelt pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) into its commercially available adhesive range for speciality tapes applications.

Compared with solvent-based PSAs, Arocure offers a more efficient avenue to create thicker adhesive film for speciality tape applications. Arocure UV-curable hotmelt PSAs can be melted and applied at elevated temperatures (>100°C). The adhesive film is cured by exposure to UV radiation.

This process is more environmentally responsible, as there are no drying ovens or incinerators required. The instantaneous curing upon exposure to UV radiation also provides higher coating line speeds, thus helping to improve productivity.
"Ashland’s UV-curable PSA technology platform provides a new way of making pressure sensitive adhesives,” said Dr Zhaohui Sun, Technical Group Leader and product specialist, UV PSA. "By controlling the design of the polymer, PSAs with different balances of adhesion and cohesion can be developed for various applications. For example, Arocure RPS-9100S pressure sensitive adhesive combines a unique balance in tack, peel and shear properties, and features adhesion to low surface energy (LSE) surfaces. It may be a good candidate for industrial tapes applications where adhesion to low surface energy surface is desirable.”

www.ashland.com/PSAs