Transition from viscoelastic to fracture-like peeling of pressure-sensitive adhesives.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35015010.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1039/d1sm01270c and PMC identifier 8808352.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
We investigate the process of the slow unrolling of a roll of typical pressure-sensitive adhesive, Scotch tape, under its own weight. Probing the peeling velocities down to nm s<sup>-1</sup> resolution, which is three orders of magnitudes lower than earlier measurements, we find that the speed is still non-zero. Moreover, the velocity is correlated to the relative humidity. A humidity increase leads to water uptake, making the adhesive weaker and easier to peel. At very low humidity, the adhesive becomes so stiff that it mainly responds elastically, leading to a peeling process akin to interfacial fracture. We provide a quantitative understanding of the peeling velocity in the two regimes.