Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Pressure sensitive adhesives are incredibly versatile. They can be found in everything from food labels and packaging to bandages and electronics.

Pressure sensitive adhesives are a type of non-reactive adhesive which forms a bond when pressure is applied to bond the adhesive with a surface. No solvent, water, or heat is needed to activate the adhesive. Surface factors such as smoothness, surface energy, and removal of contaminants are also important to proper bonding. Pressure sensitive adhesives are designed to form a bond and hold properly at room temperatures. These adhesives typically lose their tack at low temperatures and reduce their shear holding ability at high temperatures.

Henkel is a trusted pressure sensitive adhesive supplier. Our range of pressure sensitive and pressure activated adhesive products continues to grow, and our research and development enables some of the most advanced pressure sensitive adhesive products on the market.

Contact a member of our team to find out more about any of the products in the Henkel range.

Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Chemistries

Henkel manufactures a range of pressure sensitive adhesives. Our products allow businesses to improve efficiency and meet the demands of consumers. There are many different types of pressure sensitive adhesive chemistries on the market. Currently, Henkel is the only supplier of all major types of pressure sensitive adhesive:

• Solvent-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives
• Emulsion-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives
• Solvent-rubber pressure sensitive adhesives
• Rubber-based hot melt pressure sensitive adhesives
• UV curable pressure sensitive adhesives

Pressure sensitive adhesives are commonly used to make various types of labels and tapes. These products are used across several industries including automotive, food production and packaging, electronics, and medical supplies.

Solvent-Acrylic Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Working with solvent-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive assures products a broad operating temperature as well as resistance to moisture, weathering, UV, and some chemicals. Manufacturers often choose a solvent-based pressure sensitive adhesive for the production process because they offer strength and durability under challenging conditions. Resistant to weather and chemical exposure, and tolerant towards UV, solvent-based pressure sensitive adhesives have a variety of applications including:

• Durable labels
• Pharmaceutical labels
  
• Removable and resealable labels
• Automotive tape
• Conspicuity tape
• Over-laminating films
• Vehicle graphics
• Exhibition graphics
• Wound dressings
• Surgical drapes
• Ostomy care

These pressure sensitive adhesives support applications which need to withstand extreme temperatures and chemical contact. Manufacturers need the adhesive to adhere to various substrates under the most extreme conditions to protect their customers.

Our LOCTITE^® DURO-TAK^® adhesives meet demanding environments. From car batteries and pipe marking to appliance identification and drum labels, these durable pressure sensitive adhesives offer strong bonds under extreme conditions.

Emulsion-Acrylic Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

Consumers expect their purchases to perform - whether a bandage for a cut or the label on their beauty products - it needs to withstand the conditions. Emulsion-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives are versatile and provide lower operating temperatures, better UV stability and improved clarity over other formulations. Their applications will withstand moisture and temperature changes to deliver no matter the application.

AQUENCE^® PS, Henkel’s range of emulsion-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives, is used across many industries. The adhesives are coater-ready and provide advanced bonding and excellent results. Henkel water-based pressure sensitive adhesives are commonly used to manufacture products such as:

• No look (Clear labels)
  
• General purpose permanent labels
• Pharmaceutical labels
• Removable and resealable labels
• Foam tape
• Mounting tape

Our emulsion-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives are also relied on by companies working in the graphics industry. Their high clarity, clean removability, and high cohesion make them ideal for a range of purposes including:

• Advertising graphics
• Removable protective film
• Exhibition graphics
• Architectural and corporate graphics

Emulsion-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives can be used in the manufacture of medical products. These types of skin safe adhesives are commonly used for applications where skin contact is essential. Medical uses for water-based pressure sensitive adhesives include:

• Wound dressings
• Bandages
• Medical tape

Another critical market for emulsion-acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives are for food contact. These adhesives are used for food-based applications and are 100% safe for the consumer. Our range of food contact adhesives are tried, tested, and approved for used with a range of food products. These adhesives offer reliability and good adhesion and are safe for the consumer.

Rubber-Based Pressure Sensitive Adhesive

Rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesives are designed to help optimize coater line speeds. They provide high tack while balancing adhesion and bonding for use in a number of industrial applications. Our rubber-based pressure sensitive adhesive range offers products that are easily removable as well as adhesives for permanent bonding options. Our TECHNOMELT^® PS range of products contains some of the most reliable hot melt adhesives on the market. Designed to optimize coater line speed in PSA applications, the adhesives offer superior cost-in-use and are known for their quality, reliability and efficiency. 

The products in our hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive range are suitable for use in a number of industries. However, TECHNOMELT^® PS hot melt adhesives for labels are ideal for the manufacture of:

• Food labels
• Packing list envelopes
• General purpose permanent labels
• Fabric and tire labels
• Removable and resealable labels
• Specialty labels

Our TECHNOMELT^® hot melt adhesive for tapes offers a wide temperature application window, good adhesion to PE and PP, and very high tack and peel values. As a result, it’s commonly used to manufacture:

• Automotive tape
• Security bags
• Construction and roofing tape
• Electronic assembly
• General purpose permanent tape
• Hook and hoop tape
• Insect sticky traps

Many of our adhesives, including our pressure sensitive hot melt adhesives, are used in the manufacture of medical products. Our TECHNOMELT^® PS hot melt adhesives for medical applications are approved for skin contact, have good anchorage to various medical substrates and clean removability. They are used in the production of:

• Wound dressings
• Bandages
• Medical tape

UV Pressure Sensitive Adhesives

UV-curable pressure sensitive adhesives give you the freedom to offer more options and catch the attention of consumers. UV-curable pressure sensitive adhesives enable heavier coatweights at high line speeds, optimizing productivity for thicker tapes. Superior clarity enables no-look labels with the coating benefits of 100% solids technology. Henkel offers:

• Comprehensive UV product portfolio for a wide spectrum of applications
• Improved productivity with maximized line speeds and elimination of hazardous solvents
• Industry leading experts to provide customized solutions.

Change over between UV-curable and other pressure sensitive adhesives requires additional care to prevent cross-contamination. UV-curable PSAs are reactive systems which can gel over time if they are not properly removed. Proper and regular cleaning of the melt tank and hoses will reduce adhesive build up on equipment surfaces and minimize production downtime.

Our LOCTITE^® DURO-TAK^® UV adhesives offer an alternative to process-constrained solution-acrylic options. These adhesives utilize a free radical or a cationic photo initiator to enable production of heavier coat weights at high line speeds. These products feature:

• 100% solids to eliminate handling of hazardous solvents
• Faster curing to maximize manufacturing floor space and energy
• Effective packaging with no metal drums disposal
• No residual monomers and photo initiator fragments – to eliminate the need of nitrogen inertion

Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Product Forms

Pressure sensitive adhesives come in both liquid and solid form. Liquids are available in drums, totes, and tankers, while those in solid form are available in a standard chub size and drums. However, not every product is available in both solid forms.

Contact a member of our team to find out more about any of the products in the Henkel range.

Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Industry Applications

Flexible, reliable, and versatile, pressure sensitive adhesives are used across a range of industries. Often applied to products in order to seal or identify the item, pressure sensitive adhesive material is commonly used in tapes, labels, and graphics. This type of skin safe adhesive is also used to make a number of medical supplies including bandages and wound dressings with the importance of skin contact and sensitivity in mind.

Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Troubleshooting

Eliminating or minimizing downtime is essential for all businesses. There can be issues you may need to troubleshoot when using pressure sensitive adhesives. In response, our team at Henkel can offer troubleshooting advice for the most common problems you may face.

Common coating issues to troubleshoot:

• Edge crawl/creep (adhesive retracting back in from where it was coated)
• Wet out/de-wetting (adhesive not covering total surface of facestock)
• Streaks/lines in coating
• Pinholes (defects in coating)
• Temperature profile of ovens (drying of adhesive)
• How to achieve coat weight control
• Coat weight profile
• Doctor blade adhesive build up/cleaning
• Wrinkling (of coating on substrate)

Common adhesive issues to troubleshoot:

• Foaming during use
• Gels
• Grit
• Clogged filters (from grit, debris, etc.)
• Viscosity (too high/low)
• Solids (too high can cause adhesive build up/coatings issues)
• Freeze
• Skinning (layer of skin material on top of adhesive)
• Mixing (to ensure homogeneity prior to use)
• Pump problems (getting adhesive from tote/drum to coating head)
• How to best clean up
• Flushing (of lines when changing adhesives/cleaning)
• How to address clogged lines
• Separation (of adhesive)
• Smell (usually indicates bio growth)