Tuning the Adhesive Strength of Functionalized Polyolefin-Based Hot Melt Adhesives: Unexpected Results Leading to New Opportunities

IF 5.1 1区化学 Q1 POLYMER SCIENCE

Macromolecules Pub Date : 2025-03-05 DOI:10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02945

Jakub Kruszynski, Weronika Nowicka, Farhan Ahmad Pasha, Lanti Yang, Artur Rozanski, Miloud Bouyahyi, Ralf Kleppinger, Lidia Jasinska-Walc, Rob Duchateau

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The development of lightweight, often multicomponent products requires adaptable and robust bonding solutions. Hot melt adhesives increasingly attract industrial interest as they combine good adhesive strength, facile processability, and cost-efficiency. Recently, our group has reported on the remarkable adhesive performance of hydroxyl-functionalized propylene-based copolymers in bonding both polar and nonpolar surfaces. The obtained adhesive strength proved to be too high for applications such as single-use packaging, which requires low to moderate adhesion for easy opening. Tuning the adhesive strength by manufacturing numerous functionalized polyolefin grades with varying contents of hydroxyl-functional groups is challenging in view of industrial-scale production. Herein, we elucidate an alternative approach to tune the adhesive performance by blending the functionalized propylene copolymers with nonfunctionalized congeners. To understand the structure–property relationship of the investigated diluted blends, a thorough characterization of morphology, physical properties, crystallization, and viscoelastic behavior was performed. It appeared that the crystallinity of the nonfunctionalized polyolefin and its miscibility with the functionalized polyolefin play a crucial role on the adhesive strength of the blends. Either a gradual decrease in adhesive strength with dilution was noticed or─surprisingly─no loss of adhesive strength was observed at all, not even after diluting 100 times! Molecular dynamics simulations revealed an intrinsic tendency of the hydroxyl-functionalized polyolefin to migrate to and interact with the aluminum oxide surface.

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来源期刊

Macromolecules 工程技术-高分子科学

CiteScore

9.30

自引率

16.40%

发文量

942

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Macromolecules publishes original, fundamental, and impactful research on all aspects of polymer science. Topics of interest include synthesis (e.g., controlled polymerizations, polymerization catalysis, post polymerization modification, new monomer structures and polymer architectures, and polymerization mechanisms/kinetics analysis); phase behavior, thermodynamics, dynamic, and ordering/disordering phenomena (e.g., self-assembly, gelation, crystallization, solution/melt/solid-state characteristics); structure and properties (e.g., mechanical and rheological properties, surface/interfacial characteristics, electronic and transport properties); new state of the art characterization (e.g., spectroscopy, scattering, microscopy, rheology), simulation (e.g., Monte Carlo, molecular dynamics, multi-scale/coarse-grained modeling), and theoretical methods. Renewable/sustainable polymers, polymer networks, responsive polymers, electro-, magneto- and opto-active macromolecules, inorganic polymers, charge-transporting polymers (ion-containing, semiconducting, and conducting), nanostructured polymers, and polymer composites are also of interest. Typical papers published in Macromolecules showcase important and innovative concepts, experimental methods/observations, and theoretical/computational approaches that demonstrate a fundamental advance in the understanding of polymers.