UV curable release coating and adhesive formulations containing vinylethers

Vinylether monomers offer unique properties for UV/EB curing due to their efficiency as reactive diluents and their ability to undergo both cationic homopolymerization and free-radical copolymerization. The benefits derived from the inclusion of vinylethers into commercial UV-curable epoxysilicone formulations include viscosity reduction, improved cationic photoinitiator miscibility, and lower costs. The addition of up to 60 wt.% of monovinylethers to epoxysilicone systems maintains the release performance, resulting in high-performance coatings and valuable cost savings. On the other hand, divinylethers may be used to impart a controlled release behavior to the epoxysilicone systems. Vinylethers may also be used in the formulation of acrylate-free pressure-sensitive adhesives and laminating adhesives. In this paper, we have first elucidated the advantages offered by the inclusion of vinylethers in UV curable release coatings, followed by a discussion of UV curable pressure-sensitive and laminating adhesive formulations based on vinylethers