Waterborne, Nanocomposite Pressure-Sensitive Adhesives with High Tack Energy, Optical Transparency, and Electrical Conductivity

Transparent and conductive pressure‐sensitive adhesives are cast from aqueous colloidal dispersions of poly(butyl acrylate) (P(BuA)) and functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs). At the percolation threshold for network formation (at only 0.3 wt % functionalized CNT), the nanotubes remarkably double the amount of strain at adhesive failure and increase the adhesion energy by 85 % (see figure). The tack properties are explained by current models of adhesive debonding.