Research and development... Silicone contamination (Part 3): Why do contaminated adhesives still glue?
Abstract
Previous experiments have shown that acrylate-based adhesive tapes contain significant amounts of silicone impurities. Here, those adhesive tapes were used on steel substrates and the gluing process was studied by the method of fluorescence microscopy. The results of this study show that silicone contamination does not cause any significant depression in adhesive properties. During the gluing process, silicon oil films shrink and direct contacts between the adhesive and the substrate and, therefore, strong bonding become possible. The authors believe that steel substrates are typical of all polar surfaces and plan to prove this hypothesis in further studies.
