Acrylic PSA Tape Guide: Types, Advantages, and Recommended Applications
Acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes are the most versatile types of industrial tapes on the market. They have a wide range of uses and benefits, making them a viable option for many different types of applications across nearly any industry. As general rule of thumb: if you’re unsure which type of PSA tape to use in your application, go with acrylic.
When you work with our experts at Engineered Materials, you’ll never have to guess which type of tape is best. We help you understand everything there is to know about your tape options, giving you the strongest bond for your application.
What are acrylic PSA tapes? When and where should you use them? Today, we’re taking a deep dive into this widely used bonding solution.
The Basics: What are Acrylic PSA Tapes
Acrylic PSAs are thermoplastic by nature and made with acrylic monomers that are mixed and polymerized to have a low molecular weight. They are inherently soft at room temperature and can soften further when exposed to heat or with added chemical tackifiers in manufacture. These tapes have by far the most expansive performance range of all the PSA tapes. Depending on the formulation, these tapes can range from relatively firm with high strength and temperatures resistance, to soft, tacky and able to bond to difficult to adhere surfaces. This wide range of performance characteristics allows them to adhere to many different types of substrates and perform well in many different application environments. When it comes to cost, tack, temperature resistance, adhesion, and durability, you’ll find an acrylic adhesive that can perform for nearly any application. They bridge a wide middle ground between rubber and silicone PSA.
Want to learn more about the difference between acrylic, rubber, and silicone PSA tapes? See our quick guide here.
The Advantages of Using Acrylic PSA Tapes
Acrylic PSA tapes are best known for their versatility, bond strength, and durability. They adhere well at first, but typically, their initial tack is not as aggressive as rubber PSAs. They have good to excellent shear strength. They can have very good temperature, environmental, and chemical resistance, but silicones generally outperform in this area. Their primary advantages lie in their:
Versatility: they can be used in indoor and outdoor applications and can be exposed to a wide variety of environmental elements and hazards.
Substrate adhesion: they can be formulated to have a good adhesion to many different types of substrates, including aluminum, steel, glass, and most plastics.
Good temperature resistance: they can withstand temperatures between 40 °F to 250 °F and some are formulated to withstand intermittent temperatures of 450 °F
Durability: they have moderate to high resistance to UV light, chemicals, oxidation, plasticizers, and more.
Bond Strength: holds up well against shear and tensile forces that can cause bond failure.
Get wet out: the PSA easily flows to fill irregular, rough, or porous surfaces.
Resistant to hydrolysis: Humidity, moisture, and water is not an issue for acrylic PSAs, only emulsion acrylics.
Highest long-term strength: when fully bonded (after 72 hours) acrylic PSAs are some of the strongest tapes on the market.
The Disadvantages of Acrylic PSAs
While they are highly versatile and work well in most applications, there are certain conditions where it’s not always advisable to use acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive tapes.
Low surface energy substrates: these can include polyethylene, polystyrene, UHMW, PTFE, etc. If you’re looking for a PSA that can specifically bond to an LSE substrate, rubber may be the better choice. However, there are some acrylic PSA tapes that are specially designed to adhere to LSE substrates, providing many of the benefits of acrylic PSAs and good adhesion (more information on LSE acrylic adhesives below).
Silicone Bonding: Silicone rubber, foam, and sponge are difficult substrates to bond. Modified silicone PSAs are much better suited for these applications.
Cost: rubber remains the most affordable type of PSA tape, but acrylic is still more affordable than silicone.
Initial tack: acrylic PSAs only have about 50% strength when they are first applied. If you need an immediate bond, rubber PSA tapes typically will provide 80% of their strength up front and will quickly gain full strength over hours. Acrylic PSAs gain the remaining bond strength over a period of days. Adhesion promoters and/or other surface preparation techniques like abrasion can accelerate the strength buildup of acrylics.
The Primary Acrylic PSA Types
There are four major types of acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive types:
High performance acrylic PSA tapes (available in transfer tapes and double-sided tapes): high performance acrylic PSAs are used in the most challenging and demanding environments. They are high strength PSAs that provide a strong and firm adhesive bond to many different types of substrates, including high surface energy adhesives. They have a high temperature performance (up to 550°F short term resistance and 300°F long term resistance). They also offer excellent chemical and environmental resistances.
High tack acrylic PSA tapes (available in acrylic transfer tapes and double-sided tapes): high tack acrylic PSAs are your best option for when you need a stronger upfront bond. Although acrylic adhesive tapes are not generally known for their initial tack, these types of PSA tapes offer stronger initial adhesion to multiple different types of substrates. They also offer a good resistance to chemicals as well as a temperature resistance up to 250°F.
Low surface energy acrylic PSA tapes: LSE surfaces like polyethylene and polypropylene can be difficult to bond (see our guide on that here), but these adhesive tapes are specifically designed to adhere to LSE substrates. They can even bond through some oily surfaces, which often cause additional challenges for other bonding solutions. These PSA tapes have a long-term temperature resistance of up to 200°F.
Specialty PSA acrylic tapes: the versatility of acrylic PSA tapes allows them to be specially tailored to applications that require specific qualities. Specific monomers can be added to acrylic PSA tapes that make them removable, repositionable, highly resistant to plasticizers, and more.
Where Acrylic PSAs are Used
As the most versatile type of PSA tape on the market, there’s a wide range of applications where they can be used. These include:
Automotive (window film and tinting film, glue for car wrapping, paint protection film glue)
Advertising graphics
Outdoor/indoor use
Medical applications
Foam and metal lamination
Gasketing
Fabrics and cardstock
There are almost too many applications to list. No matter your application, we can help you find the PSA tape (acrylic, rubber, silicone, or any other) that provides the best bond based on your substrates, environment, and so much more. We’re ready to help you. Get in touch with us today to talk about your bonding solution.