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The use of pressure-sensitive adhesives in industrial applications is steadily increasing, due to these adhesives being easy, safe and inexpensive to process. However, they tend to creep at elevated temperatures and are, therefore only suitable, to a limited extent, for permanently loaded, structural bonds. 

A solution to this is offered by post-crosslinking, pressure-sensitive, adhesive systems, which are being developed as part of a newly launched project at plastics industry specialist, SKZ.

The aim of the project is to develop and test pressure-sensitive, post-crosslinking adhesive systems based on microcapsules. The challenge is to encapsulate one of the components of a two component adhesive in such a way that it breaks when exposed to low pressure. This starts the crosslinking process without much effort or the use of machines. At the same time, the adhesive must withstand any winding pressure, for example during the production process of adhesive tapes. For this purpose, capsule materials, adapted to respective adhesives, are being tested during the project. SMEs, in particular, are set to benefit from the results, as the investment outlay for this type of curing, without the need for using special plant technology, is very low. 

The research project is being conducted under the umbrella of Germany’s Industrial Cooperative Research (IGF) funding programme, and its scope will explore know-how on microencapsulation, formulation and processing, as well as on the properties of pressure-sensitive, post-curing adhesive systems. Results will be made available to participating companies in order that work processes in this field can be designed more effectively and economically in the future.