Synthesis of sorbital based nonionic surfactants and characterization of interfacial and adhesive properties for waterborne pressure sensitive adhesives

In this study, environmentally friendly nonionic surfactants were synthesized by the reaction of sorbitol and decanoic acid followed by addition of ethylene oxide. The structure of the product was elucidated by 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FT-IR and the interfacial properties such as critical micelle concentration (CMC), surface tension, interfacial tension, contact angle and foam stability were measured. These newly synthesized surfactants were used to prepare emulsion-type pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) by emulsion polymerization and adhesive properties were measured in order to investigate the possibility of substituting a traditional nonylphenol ethoxylate surfactant NPE40. The PSA prepared by a newly synthesized surfactant SA10-40 showed better adhesive properties in peel strength and holding power than those of NPE40 and Tween40.