EFFECT OF STRUCTURE AND MOLECULAR WEIGHT ON PROPERTIES OF PRESSURE SENSITIVE ADHESIVES (PSA) FORMULATED FROM PALM OIL BASED URETHANE ACRYLATE (POBUA)

Various palm oil (RBD Palm Olein) based urethane acrylate prepolymers (UPs) having different structures and molecular weights were synthesised from palm oil based polyols, diisocyanate compounds and hydroxyl terminated acrylate monomers by following established synthesis procedures described elsewhere. The products (UPs) were compared with each other in terms of their molecular weights (MW), viscosities and UV curing performances of pressure sensitive adhesives (PSA) UP based formulations. The molecular structure of diisocyanate compounds and hydroxyl acrylate monomers tend to determine the molecular weights and hence viscosities of the final products of urethane acrylate prepolymers (UP), whereas, the MW of the UP has no direct effects on the coatings and adhesive properties of UV curable UP based PSA. ABSTRAK Pelbagai jenis akrilat uretana prepolimer (UPs)- berbeza struktur dan berat molekul (BM)