Pressure sensitive adhesives [PSA's] are one of the mainstays of the adhesive industry. Rubber based PSA's have been in use since the mid 1850's but it wasn't until the mid 1930's in the USA that they began to be used for paper labels and from that point on they rapidly grew in use. Since that time, and until the mid 1970's or so, PSA's were supplied as either solvent borne or water borne products. Solvent borne PSA's, both rubber and acrylic types, latter being introduced in the early 1960's, dominated particularly in the high end use demand areas although water borne products have been widely used globally for a number of years particularly for paper labels; then rubber based hot melt PSA's came onto the market in the mid to late 1960's. These latter products were based on newly available polymers and these types of hot melts along with the solvent and water borne types are the main forms of PSA's in use today. However, up to now rubber based HMPSA's have not matched the high performance level of solvent borne PSA's. There is now new technology available and being developed; the use of UV to cure a HMPSA that improves the performance level of these products to that of solvent borne PSA's. This introductory paper to the PSA session will outline the PSA market and some trends in the industry, and will serve to introduce the other speakers who will cover in depth solvent borne, water borne and hot melt PSA's, and UV technology.
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