Labels are big business. A typical label has multiple layers: a topcoat for protection, the face stock, which contains the message in the form of text and/or images, a pressure-sensitive adhesive, and a release liner, which often has a release coating. The release liner and coating are only there to protect the label from sticking to things you do not wish it would stick to. You remove the liner when you wish to apply the label onto your substrate of choice, for example, a bottle containing a drink.

Imagine a label without a release liner and coating, imagine a label that could be activated at the moment you want it to stick to a substrate, a stick-on-demand linerless label.

BonLab has designed and developed a concept and prototype for a sustainable solution: a mesh reinforced pressure-sensitive adhesive for linerless label design. The idea was worked out by Emily Brogden and prof. dr. ir. Stefan Bon, in collaboration with UPM Raflatac Oy, a global supplier of label materials for branding and promotion, information and functional labelling (patent application: WO2023105120A1). The complete study, which was done at the University of Warwick, is now published in the new journal RSC Applied Polymers.

A water-based pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) is contained in a hard 3D mesh structure. This replaces the standard PSA layer of a label. It provides structural support upon storage and prevents the adhesive layer from sticking. In adhesive jargon: it shows excellent blocking resistance.

Upon short heat treatment, for example, upon contact with a hot sterilized glass bottle, the mesh will soften, allowing for adhesion to occur.

The 3D mesh structure was generated using a binary mixture of water-based polymer dispersions. One component is a standard PSA latex, and the other is a polystyrene polymer colloid. Film formation of the blend followed by a short annealing time led to the desired phase-separated mesh structure, as displayed in the figure below.

Visualization of the mesh structure in an acetone etched PVAc-PS model film (Film 1) a-c. a) SEM image of the top surface, b) a tilt adjusted image of the cross section after cutting away a section using FIB SEM with a film height of approximately 20 𝜇𝑚, and c) micro-CT 3D reconstruction of the etched film. Visualization of a similar mesh structure in a PSA-PS film (Film 2) d-f. d) SEM image of the top surface of Film 2, annealed for 60 𝑚𝑖𝑛 e) SEM image of the top surface (prepared similiarly to Film 2 but with only a 19 𝑚𝑖𝑛 annealing time) with a clean crack after freezing in liquid nitrogen and f) a cross section of Film 2, where the PS is tagged with hostasol methacrylate (green), taken using confocal microscopy (the original top surface of the cast film is at the top of the image).

Prof. dr. ir. Stefan Bon says: “I am immensely proud of the hard work done by all people involved to get the idea from a sketch on a piece of paper to a working prototype. A big thank you to PhD researcher Emily Brodgen, the paper's first author, who has been the driving force behind turning a concept into reality and has worked tremendously hard on the project for the last couple of years. The work has received excellent feedback from the academic and industrial scientific communities, with Emily winning multiple prizes for best talk and scientific poster.”

The paper can be accessed from the RSC Applied Polymers website:

https://doi.org/10.1039/D3LP00224A

A promotional video will be made available soon.