Influence of Selected Crosslinking Agents and Selected Unsaturated Copolymerizable Photoinitiators Referring to the Shrinkage Resistance of Solvent-Based Acrylic Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives

The properties of solvent-based pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) acrylics, especially shrinkage, are mostly determined by the type and amount of the crosslinking agent added to the prepolymer or by the crosslinking method. The shrinkage profiles of the selected solvent-based acrylic PSA coated on PVC film were investigated using metal chelates (between 0 and 0.55 wt.%), N-methylol acrylamide (up to 8 wt.%), polycarbodiimide and amino resins (up to 6 wt.%), diisocyanate (up to 1 wt.%), multi-functional propylene imines (up to 0.9 wt.%), conventional photoinitiators (up to 3 wt.%) and copolymerizable photoinitiators (up to 2 wt.%). These chemicals were both crosslinking agents that react after the solvent has been evaporated or at higher temperatures, and to the crosslinking agents that react under UV radiation. Some of them were copolymerizable, and others were added to the prepolymer before crosslinking. The best results of shrinkage (0.2%) were obtained by using the UV-crosslinking method and copolymerizable photoinitiators ZLI 3331 and ABP, as well as metal chelates AlACA and TiACA and multifunctional propylene imine Neocryl CX-100 (0.2%). Acceptable results were also achieved for amide BPIA (0.3%), benzophenone derivative PCB (0.4%), N-methylol acrylamide (0.35%) and benzoguanamine resin Cymel 1123 (0.45%)