Adjusting the adhesiveness of gel sheets Research laboratory of Company I, a Manufacturer of Household and Chemical Products
Balance tackiness and Soft Touch in Gel Sheets
Polyacrylic powder improves gel sheet usability
Company I decided to improve its water-based adhesive products. The company decided to improve the water-based adhesive base material used in the product to have moderate adhesive strength and a good usability, and the research laboratory was searching for materials.
Challenges
We are searching for materials that can provide a water-based adhesive base with the right level of adhesion and usability...
Company I decided to improve the water-based adhesive base in order to improve the gel sheets. Mr. W from the research lab decided to review the composition of the adhesive base.
Mr. W looks back on this moment as follows:
"We use a polymer gel cross-linked with an aluminum compound, mixed with alcohol such as glycerin, as an adhesive base. As the polyacrylic acid-based water-soluble polymer, we use sodium polyacrylate or a copolymer of acrylic acid and sodium acrylate, but this time we decided to mix in polyacrylic acid in order to finely adjust the pH of the polymer gel."
"From previous studies, we knew that blending polyacrylic acid into the adhesive base material would improve the adhesive strength of the polymer gel. We also expected that this would prevent the seepage of alcohol components such as glycerin, improving the stability of the polymer gel."
However, with the polyacrylic acid we obtained, we had an issue where some of the adhesive would remain on the surface when the gel sheet was peeled off from the object it was attached to. We tried various experiments, changing the amount and method of mixing, but we could not see any improvement in the situation.
Furthermore, some of the products he considered had poor storage stability in terms of adhesive strength, which left Mr. W scratching his head.
With the deadline approaching, Mr. W decided to expand his scope even further and gather more information on ways to improve adhesion.
Key Challenges
Polyacrylic acid was blended into a polymer gel that uses a water-soluble polyacrylic acid powder as an adhesive base.
With the polyacrylic acid examined, there was a problem where some of the adhesive remained on the surface when it was peeled off from the object to which it was attached.