Prospective materials for biodegradable and/or biobased pressure-sensitive adhesives: a review

A pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) is an adhesive system that is permanently tacky and adheres to a variety of surfaces with light pressure without phase changes. These adhesives are most commonly found in adhesive tapes such as the Scotch (R) tape or Post-it (R) notes. The majority of PSAs are petroleum-based products and usually not biodegradable. The amount of waste generated from these products is quite large as these products are considered disposable. The present review focuses on biodegradable elastomers and how they can be useful in PSAs. This review also covers some novel PSA systems that are biobased or biodegradable.