Due to increased environmental and health awareness, the interest in dispersions for specialty tapes with low amount of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) is growing. Especially in the automotive sector, where the focus moves to low odor and low emission of VOCs inside cars, this has become a major topic. Additionally, local regulations on car interior air quality have been released in several countries and further tightening is discussed.
Water-based PSA products can be a strong driver for improvement of overall VOC content and low odor threshold. At the same time, a high adhesive performance and resistance to harsh temperature and chemical conditions is needed as well as adhesion to various polar and LSE surfaces.
Synthomer is presenting strategies to develop high performance and low VOC water-borne PSAs with focus on the challenges of specialty tapes for automotive applications. Selected case studies will be shown, comparing standard waterborne PSAs to low VOC/low odor PSAs regarding automotive standards and local regulations, to highlight some important aspects of development and demonstrate the benefit of water-borne low VOC solutions for specialty tape applications.