ABSTRACT
Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) adhere quickly and firmly to a surface under the application of light pressure. They exhibit high adhesion strengths without necessarily any chemical bond formation at the interface [1]. PSAs are increasingly being used in more demanding applications that require enhanced performance
characteristics [2]. Much progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms of tack and debonding in PSAs through a combination of modelling [3-6] and experiment [7-12]. This present work demonstrates a method to control the surface topography of a waterborne PSA. The topography and elasticity are then examined using atomic force microscopy. The relevance of this work will become clear in the following discussion.
