3M’s new silicone laminating adhesive tapes solve the problem of bonding to silicone and other hard-to-bond substrates

3M Adhesive Transfer Tape 91022 and 3M Double Coated Tape 96042 are designed with a single liner and a high performance adhesive, enabling productivity improvements for users through faster and easier processing. Meanwhile, 3M Double Coated Tape 9731 is a double lined tape with a silicone coating and an acrylic coating on opposite sides, used for bonding silicone rubber to higher surface energy materials.
“3M’s new silicone laminating adhesive tapes help address several key problems for customers and are likely to prove particularly popular with designers and engineers as they strive to meet their design challenges”, says John Fyall of 3M’s Industrial Adhesives & Tapes Division.

“The adhesive tapes 91022 and 96042 are designed with a 55µm pressure sensitive silicone adhesive that adheres on contact, without priming. They hold with high shear and good peel strength, resulting in a high initial bond for immediate part processing, and possess excellent high temperature performance – up to 260ºC for the adhesive tape 91022 - and reliable chemical resistance.

“The 2mm PET single liner feature of the adhesive tapes 91022 and 96042 tapes reduces waste by 50 per cent, which saves users the time and cost to remove and dispose of a second liner. In addition, the liner can be die-cut to precise shapes with clean edges, and offers good tear and moisture resistance. Because the tapes are stable for up to 12 months on the shelf, users can expect less waste due to tape expiring. The single liner is also easier to handle and dispose of.”

In addition to their capabilities of bonding to difficult to stick to LSE (low surface energy) silicone substrates, offering good initial quick stick on contact and dwell over time when compared to other silicone PSAs, the adhesive tapes 91022 and 96042 also provide excellent adhesion to other hard-to-bond surfaces, such as leather and silicone rubbers and foams.
John Fyall added: “In the case of 3M Double Coated Tape 9731, the silicone adhesive possesses strong holding power to various silicone surfaces, good temperature performance and good solvent resistance. The Acrylic 350 adhesive of 3M Double Coated Tape 9731 product provides very high adhesion to a wide variety of materials, excellent shear holding power, high temperature resistance and excellent UV resistance.

“The new 91022 and 96042 adhesive tapes have a thin polyester carrier provides dimensional stability and improved handling, with ease of die cutting and lamination compared to adhesive transfer tapes. Bond strength is dependent upon the amount of adhesive-to-surface contact developed, with better contact and bond strength achieved through firm application pressure.”
Other product features offered by the new tapes include strong damping performance over a broad temperature range.