In the USA, Oregon State University has produced a new pressure-sensitive adhesive said to be environmentally benign and much cheaper than existing adhesives based on petrochemicals.
The new adhesive can be produced from a range of vegetable oils, and could be suitable for most products requiring a pressure-sensitive adhesive including labels, packaging tape, stick-on notes and postage stamps.
Kaichang Li, a professor of wood science and engineering in the OSU College of Forestry: explains: “This adhesive is incredibly simple to make, doesn’t use any organic solvents or toxic chemicals, and is based on vegetable oils that would be completely renewable. It should be about half the cost of existing technologies and appears to work just as well.”
There have been previous attempts to make pressure-sensitive adhesives from vegetable oils, he says, but they used the same type of polymerisation chemistry as the acrylate based petrochemicals now used to make tape. “They didn’t cost much less or perform as well.”
The new approach used at OSU is based on a different type of polymerization process and would be made from renewable crops such as soy beans, corn or canola oil, instead of petroleum based polymers.
The technology should be fairly easy to scale-up and commercialize, Mr Li says.
“OSU has applied for a patent on this technology, and we’re looking now for the appropriate development and commercialisation partner,” says Denis Sather, Licensing Associate with the OSU Office of Technology Transfer. “We believe this innovation has the potential to replace current pressure-sensitive adhesives with a more environmentally friendly formulation at a competitive price."
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