Abstract
UV-crossinkable pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) materials are called, in the adhesives trade photoreactive self-adhesive. UV-crosslinkable PSAs are designed after the UV-initiated crosslinking reaction to stick to almost any surface by a simple contact under light pressure. This special class of adhesives does not undergo any physical transformation or chemical reaction during the bonding process. Because of the rheological properties the adhesive must be fi nely tuned for the application, combining a carefully chosen polymer architecture and monomer composition with the proper addition of small additives called photoinitiators. The best way is using the unsaturated copolymerizable photoinitiators and their direct incorporation into polymer chain during the polymerization process. Progress in the coating technology and the development of novel photoreactive acrylic adhesives will open the door to new applications and an extended market penetration of UV-crosslinkable acrylic adhesive raw materials containing unsaturated copolymerizable photoinitiators incorporated into the polymer backbone. Photoreactive UV-crosslinkable acrylic PSA are characterized by good tack, good adhesion, excellent cohesion and very low shrinkage.