Types of Adhesives Used to Make Tape

While the adhesive coated onto pressure-sensitive tapes (PSA) tapes can appear alike, as they are all sticky and can bond well with surfaces. They are actually various adhesive used in creating tapes of different stickiness and durability for use in different industries.

Adhesive can be made from rubber/resin, synthetic rubber, acrylic, as well as silicone-based glue.

Rubber/Resin Adhesive

This is the oldest kind of adhesive based on natural rubber, yet it requires a resin to make it into an adhesive. The advantages of rubber/resin adhesive are that it is cheaper. When compared to acrylic, rubber/resin have higher tackiness. As such, it is able to stick well to many different surfaces, even materials that may be hard to stick to.

Rubber-based adhesives provide very flexible bonds and also are generally based upon butadiene-styrene, nitrile, butyl or polyisobutylene substances. It can be developed to stick at lower temperature levels, but there is a restriction, and rubber/resin adhesives have constraints at higher temperature levels in its basic condition.

While there are also disadvantages associated with rubber/resin adhesive. Its primary weakness is that both the resin and the rubber are prone to oxidation from the air. Exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun and other light sources can break down the adhesive.

Synthetic Rubber can be utilized in place of all-natural rubber. Offering much greater attachment and shear resistance than natural rubber-based adhesives; as a result, it is great for sealing cartons and packages.

Acrylic Adhesive

Most of the weaknesses of rubber/resin glue are overcome by the use of acrylic adhesive. Acrylic is a colourless polymer that is stable to oxidation and exposure to ultraviolet light. The stability to oxidation can offer an acrylic glue tape several years of security against ultraviolet light. However, It is more expensive– about twice as much as rubber/resins; it’s not quite so good as natural rubber on harder-to-adhere surfaces, and it needs significant time to cure.

Silicone-based Adhesives

This type of adhesive offer years of service life. Like acrylics, silicone can be made to use on our skin, so it has numerous medical applications along with uses in the electrical industry where temperature can pose a challenge. Silicone adhesives and sealants have a high degree of versatility as well as are resistant to really high temperatures. Silicones are the most expensive adhesives of all, typically twice as much as acrylics.

Depending on your needs, the type of adhesive tapes you need will vary accordingly. As such, before purchasing adhesive tape for your projects, there is no harm in doing some research on the best type of taps for your use to determine the type of tape need. Tapes on the market include OPP tape, cellophane tape, masking tape, duct tape and more.