Release forces

Release coatings are important components of pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) products such as tapes and labels [1]. Release materials are coated onto the backside of PSA tape backings (often called low adhesion backsizes or LABs in this form) to provide the desired tape roll unwind force. They are also coated onto various substrates to form release liners for PSA products such as labels and transfer tapes. Typically the thickness of the release coating is less than 1 p,m, and often times less than 0.1 jLm. Release coatings can be thought of as the PSA delivery system, providing a controlled unwind or release force and protecting the adhesive from contamination and unintentional contact until it is applied. 

The release force must be stable under whatever environmental (e.g., temperature and humidity) conditions the PSA product will experience. 

Based on the arguments presented thus far, it would seem that, for a given PSA, the work of adhesion, and thus the peel force, should decrease systematically as the surface energy of the release coating is decreased. Therefore, fluorochemical containing polymers should provide the lowest release forces. In practice, these generalities often do not hold, due to other factors, such as interfacial dynamics and rheological considerations. 

Another factor that can contribute to the low release force provided by a release material is the presence of a mechanically weak boundary layer at the surface of the release coating [40,41]. Upon peeling the PSA from the release coating, the locus of failure is within this mechanically weak layer, resulting in transfer of material to the adhesive and a subsequent loss in adhesion of the PSA. Although the use of a weak boundary layer may not be the preferred method of achieving low adhesion for PSA release coatings, it can be useful if the amount of transfer is consistent and kept to a minimum [42]. However, in many cases the unintentional or uncontrolled transfer of a weak boundary layer to a PSA results in an undesirable loss in readhesion. 

The dependence of release force on the flexibility of the release layers is noted in systems other than silicones. Recent work in olefin release shows that release is a strong function of the density or crystallinity of the layer [44], At a density above 0.9 g/cm release for an acrylate PSA is greater than 270 g/cm. However, when the density of PE is dropped to 0.865 g/cm-, the release force of the same adhesive construction drops to 35 g/cm. An investigation of interfacial friction and slip in these systems has not yet been reported, but again the manipulation of release rheology greatly impacts the measured peel force. 

Yamamoto and Minamizaki [159] disclose the use of a curable silicone based release agent blended with resin particles which swell or are soluble in organic solvent. Coatings made with such blends can be written on with solvent based inks. For example, an addition cure silicone network containing 20 wt% 0.1 p,m diameter PMMA particles exhibited both good writeability (no ink dewetting and smear free) and a low release force of 10 g/cm for a PSA tape. 

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