Some of our customers ask for silicone tape on the back of their silicone part when really an acrylic tape could work just fine. The reason that most customers callout silicone tape on their parts is because its a silicone rubber, sponge or foam part. Oftentimes our customer has been given the impression that only silicone tape will stick to silicone parts. However, while it is true in general that silicone rubber most have silicone tape some fabricators such as NEDC have methods to ensure the acrylic adhesive does stick to most silicone rubber parts. Since most silicone PSAs and acrylic PSAs can stick to silicone gaskets, the question becomes what are the differences?
gaskets with silicone and acrylic PSA
Silicone PSA
Silicone Pressure Sensitive Adhesive has some characteristics that define it:
-Surface Energy
As mentioned above, while some fabricators have methods to ensure acrylic PSAs stick to silicone rubber parts, silicone PSAs are oftentimes employed for lower surface energy substrates
-Temperature Range
Silicone Tape has a very wide temperature range. Most tapes range from -100° to 500° F. Oftentimes this is a good reason to choose a silicone tape. For high-temperature gaskets, sometimes high-temperature tape is required.
-Shelf Life
Silicone tape oftentimes has a lower shelf life than its acrylic counterparts. This is something to be cautious of when asking for a silicone tape.
-Price
One thing to be cautious of is the temperature range that comes with silicone PSA also carries a price tag. In general, silicone PSAs are more costly than their acrylic counterparts.
Acrylic PSA
Acrylic Pressure Sensitive Adhesive has some characteristics that make it remarkable:
-Adhesion
Acrylic PSAs have a very large bandwidth of adhesion values compared to their silicone counterparts. It’s not uncommon to look at two different datasheets, and see one with a 30 oz/in adhesion, and one with 150 oz/in.
-Shelf Life
In general, acrylic PSAs have very robust shelf lives. Some tapes from the factory carry up to a 24 month shelf life but function well past that date.
Availability
Acrylic PSAs for NEDC are much more widely available compared to silicone PSAs. For example, NEDC has several different types of acrylic PSAs available compared to limited availability on silicone tapes.
These are some of the big differences between acrylic and silicone PSA, there are others, but these are some of the bigger ones. Since NEDC is a 3M converter, we supply many different types of tapes. For more information on silicone or acrylic tape please contact sales@nedc.com.