The SER can also be used to measure the adhesive properties of pressure
sensitive adhesives, gels, and pastes against a variety of substrates
over a very broad range of rates and temperatures. Using this same 180°
peel geometry the SER can be used to measure the work of adhesion and
the onset of cohesive/adhesive instabilities of polymer melts against
various surface energy interfaces.
Note how the the peel fracture front is confined to the region between
the drums, allowing clear visual access to the peel interfaces during
the peeling process. The peel properties of pressure sensitive adhesives
can be characterized as a function of substrate, temperature, and rates
unachievable with conventional testing (1+ m/s). The peel properties of polymer
melts can be used to fingerprint polymer melt processing behavior and
to elucidate the role of adhesive failure in melt processing instabilities.