The viscoelastic properties of natural rubber pressure-sensitive adhesive using acrylic resin as a tackifier

Acrylic tackifier resins were prepared by free radical polymerization. A natural rubber base was prepared from Standard Malaysian Rubber through mechanical milling. The acrylic tackifier was blended with the rubber base in various ratios. The blends were coated onto strips of paper and tested for shear and peel strengths. Circular samples of the blends were cast onto release paper and their viscoelastic properties studied using DMTA. On plotting storage modulus G' against frequency, differences between the low frequencies and high frequencies explain the change in pressure-sensitive adhesive (psa) properties as the percentage of tackifier resin was varied. Blends with good psa have higher loss tangent at higher frequencies. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.