Pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape is a substrate coated with a stick, pressure sensitieve adhesive. The substrate can be any flexible strip, cloth, paper, textile, plastic, PP, PET, PE or even sillicon paper, metal or plastic. Tapes are basicly coated with sticky adhesive on one or both sides. Depending on the adhesive it sticks to a variety of surfaces with only light pressure, such as finger pressure, tape is usually supplied on a roll.
Hot melt PSAs are typically a blend natural or synthetic rubber, resin and oil. Waterbased adhesives are mostly acrylic. But at the end, any sticky product can be used and coated to make a tape.
Single Coated tapes
With Single coated tapes mostly a hot melt adhesive is applied to one side of the substrate. The coated side is mostly known as “backing” but many times, the both sides are uncoated the same.
Single coated tapes are very widely used, in domestic, packaging, industrial electrical, masking, removable, window sealing, carton sealing, food- and medical applications.
Double Coated tapes
A double sided tape sticks on both sides and has an substrate only as carrier for this coating. It may function as a barrier as well. A release liner, mostly silliocone paper, will be necessary to prevent the layers stick together. A double sided tape may vary a lot, as the adhesive on both sides can be different as well as the release liner might be different on both sides.
Double coated tapes are used for applications as mounting, medical, packaging, promotiona purposes, membrane switches and several home- and industrial applications.
Reinforced tapes
Tapes with a reinforcement layer of woven, textile, knitted cloth, polyethylene, polyester or glass strands offer an extra strong backing of the tape. Typically a rubber based hot melt adhesives are is applied.
Examples of reinforced tapes are in building applications, ducttape, automotive applications and filament.
Unsupported tapes
If no backing is needed, typically adhesive transfer tapes are used. The adhesive is coated on a release liner only. The end user removes the release liner and only a sticky acrylic or rubber layer is left. .
Glue dots are an example of small pieces of unsportted tape.
