Mobility of a tackifying resin in a pressure-sensitive adhesive

A detailed study of the mobility of a tackifying resin in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) has been done for the first time. The objective of this work is to relate changes in adhesive performance with tackifier loading to tackifier mobility. Tackifiers are low-molecular weight resins that improve the overall performance of PSAs. They increase the adhesive tack or the ability to form a bond of measurable strength after brief contact under slight applied pressure. In this study the diffusion of n-butyl ester of abietic acid (n-BEAA) in either polyisoprene (PI) (M_w = 195,000 M_w/M_n ∼ 1.05) or poly(ethylene-propylene) (PEP) (M_w = 40,000 M_w/M_n ∼ 2.30) was measured by Pulsed Gradient Spin Echo-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (PGSE-NMR) as a function of both tackifier concentration and temperature. The concentration dependence of the tackifier's diffusion coefficient was weak for both systems. The weak variation in mobility with composition for the PI/n-BEAA system was consistent with that system's weak variation in tack with composition. On the other hand, blends of PEP/n-BEAA showed only modest variation in mobility, even though these adhesive systems showed appreciable enhancement of tack at intermediate compositions. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36 : 373–381, 1998