11-02 – Thermally Stable, Transparent, Pressure Sensitive Adhesives from Plant Oils

As petroleum resources continue to decrease rapidly, there has been a recent surge in the development of sustainable products which utilize renewable feed stocks, including plant oils. Certain plant oils, including epoxidized soybean oils, are widely used in the plastic and resin industry as additives; however, they have the potential for use in other value added applications, such as pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs). Current PSAs have multiple drawbacks such as; low thermal stability, relatively high melting points, and a large coefficient of thermal expansion. Additionally, silicone based adhesives are currently too expensive to be practical. Considering the current standard needs for pressure sensitive adhesives and the ever growing interest in research and development for alternate PSA uses in advanced electronics and medical devices; researchers at Kansas State University set about developing a highly functional PSA from inexpensive renewable resources. These novel PSAs utilize cationic polymerization of epoxidized plant oils (EPO) to deliver a thermally stable PSA which has comparable peel strength relative to market leaders, is extremely transparent, and is significantly better for the environment then other options because of the focus on “green” production. Additionally, the resources used to make the adhesive are environmentally sustainable as well as inexpensive relative to other options such as silicon. Ken Williams ken@ksu.edu 785-532-3906