• Journal of Adhesion and Interface
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.49-55
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• 2016

In this study, we designed an environment friendly, water-based adhesive using the acrylic emulsion method as a replacement for solvent-based adhesives, which are most commonly used in layered laminates for flexible food packaging. We designed adhesives with different combinations of anionic, non-ionic, and phosphoric ester surfactants, and with different concentrations of chain transfer agent (CTA). We also examined the effect of the degree of cross-linking by synthesizing and comparing 8 test group adhesives with different types of functional monomers. Additionally, we synthesized 2 other test group pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA) using styrene/alpha-methyl styrene/acrylic acid (SAA) semipolymer dispersing agents (with molecular weights of 13,000 g/mol and 8,600 g/mol, respectively) to replace the conventional surfactants. We evaluated whether the 10 test group pressure-sensitive adhesives met the basic physical property criteria required for flexible food packaging by carrying out a physical analysis of their glass transition temperature (Tg), particle size, adhesion, and molecular weight. In our test, 2 test group adhesives manufactured with the combination of anionic and non-ionic surfactants, CTA concentration of 0.2%, and functional monomers of hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) demonstrated molecular weight and flexibility suitable for flexible packaging, with low adhesiveness and small particle size.