What’s a tackifier?

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Adhesives require stickiness to adhere to surfaces and maintain adhesiveness under changing conditions. They come in several families categorized by base ingredient, including rosin adhesives, hydrocarbon resins, and terpene tackifiers. Manufacturers offer a range of options and may recommend specific blends for customers. Adhesives must interact with heat, water, or radiation and different surfaces require unique formulations. Performance, odor, color, and cure time are all factors to consider when choosing an adhesive.

An adhesive increases the viscosity of an adhesive. If a sticker isn’t tacky enough to touch, you can add stickers to make it more functional. These products are used in a variety of compounds and come in several families, categorized by base ingredient. Most are resins, produced from vegetable or hydrocarbon sources, that can be used with adhesives designed to work in hot, humid, or radioactive environments, depending on the formulation.

Stickiness, also known as tackiness, is an important characteristic of adhesives. These compounds must be able to adhere firmly to surfaces and maintain their adhesiveness under changing conditions; Bumper stickers used on cars, for example, may not have adhesives that become brittle in high heat or begin to dissolve in the rain. On their own, adhesive products may not have the characteristics necessary to perform within an acceptable range and may require an adhesive to be more useful.

Rosin adhesives are derived from tree sources, including waste products from paper manufacturing, while hydrocarbon resins are obtained from petroleum products. A separate group of terpene tackifiers is also available. These tend to be more expensive to manufacture and are less common except in applications where they perform better than other products. Manufacturers test them to determine their tolerances and find appropriate adhesives to mix them with so they can advise customers on the best options for their needs.

Stickers may need to adhere to contact, even with surfaces that may be hot, cold or wet. Adhesives must be able to interact with heat, water or radiation, which may be present in the environment or be part of the curing process of the adhesive. Different surfaces such as plastics, metals and ceramics also require their own unique formulations to ensure the product adheres; the caulk used on windows, for example, cannot begin to pull away from the glass or leaks will develop. If the adhesive fails, the adhesive can start to crumble or peel off.

The best tackifier may depend on the ingredients of an adhesive and where it will be used. Manufacturers typically offer a range of options and may have recommendations on specific blends for their customers. It is also possible to develop a new adhesive for a specific application if existing products are not suitable. Some concerns beyond performance under a variety of conditions can include odor, color, and cure time, all of which can play a role in whether a product will perform well.




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