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April, 2002

COF - DEFINITIONS

SLIP = Amount of slip additive


> Slip additive = < lower the COF
High Slip = .1 - .2 COF
Medium Slip = .2 - .5 COF
Low Slip = > .5 COF - usually no slip
additive
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DEFINITION OF COF
Defined as the ratio of tangential force F
to the normal load W when a surface if
moved relative to another surface.
COF = F/W - no units, since it is a ratio of
two numbers
Static COF - initial force to start the
material moving
Kinetic COF - force to continue moving

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TEST METHODS
Incline Plane - TAPPI TM T-503
measures only Static COF
Not consistent

Horizontal Plane - ASTM D-1494


Reproducibility between operators is poor
Method not sensitive enough to detect
small differences in COF

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Introduction
Important properties of packaging
laminates
slip behavior
coefficient of friction (CoF)

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Introduction
Slip behavior determined by:
-

construction and
composition of the plastics
layers

- type of slip agents added.


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Commonly Used Slip


Additives
Molecular weight
Melting point
C=C bond
No.of C atoms
Purity

Oleamide
281.5
66 - 80 C
1
18
70 %

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Erucamide
337.6
76 - 88 C
1
22
90 %

SLIP FACTORS
Resin type
Low Density - 500 ppm erucamide - 2 mil
EVA - 1000 ppm erucamide - 2 mil
Surlyn - 10,000 ppm erucamide - 2 mil

Melt Index - lower MI = less slip


Treatment - treated side = higher COF
Film Age - slip blooms over time
Film Gloss - higher gloss = add slip
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Why Slip Additives Work


Based on olefin containing materials,
erucamide (C20) or oleamide (C18).
Without olefin functionality, stearamide
(C18) and beheamide (C20) do not work
well.
Materials without double bonds are too
crystalline
Crystalline materials do not lower the
coefficient of friction
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Migration Mechanism

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Why Adhesives Work


The key
Have limited solubility of the amide in
the adhesive
Without solubility, the adhesive will not
bond to the substrate.
Too high solubility, the amide will tend to
migrate into the adhesive.

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Slip/Substrate/Adhesive
The effectiveness of amides depends on their
migration to the polyolefin substrate surface.
Solubilizing the amide in the adhesive causes a
change in the equilibrium amount of slip agent in the
polyolefin.
This results in a corresponding loss of amide on the
opposing surface.
This can cause an unacceptably high coefficient of
friction on this side.

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Why Adhesives Work


Higher bond strength and higher coefficients
of friction were observed in following order:

polyether polyurethane
mixed polyether/polyester polyurethane
polyester polyurethane
polyester polyols

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Why Adhesives Work


Theories

A)
Amides are solubilized better by the
urethane
linkage than by an ester
linkage.
Higher number of urethane linkages lead to
higher solubility of the amide
= better bonds.
B)
The choice of acid monomer in the
polyester
adhesive has an effect with the
longer chain
amides.
Some monomers are more receptive
= better bonds.
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Why Adhesives Work


Theories
C) The choice of diols has influence.
This would seem consistent with the less
polar diols being better
= better bonds.
D) Evidence, to a lesser extent, suggests
better bonds if adhesive resin is OH
terminated than if NCO terminated,
but not always true.
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The "S-Factor"
Rule of thumb:
The surface of the film will be saturated by
slip according to the following calculation:

S-Factor =
film thickness (m) X slip content (PPM).
For different Polyethylene types, different
S-Factors have to be considered:
LDPE : 15000 - 20000
LLDPE : 30000
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Film Thickness and CoF


The saturation in this 500 ppm LDPE film is
reached at a film thickness of about 30 m.
500(PPM) X 30 (m) = 15 000.

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Slip Agent and


COF
Only
up to a certain limit slip additives diminish
the COF-value. When the surface is saturated,
more slip does not help, but may be a problem
for adhesion.

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Polyether- and
Polyesterbased
Adhesives
Fundamental
Adhesive Classification
- Polyester character - Polyether character.
The type of Polyol backbone of an adhesive.
Polyether: chain components linked by oxygen
- C -components
O - C
Polyester: chain
linked by estergroups
-C - O - C O
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Polyether- and Polyesterbased Adhesives


Different polarity of the backbone.
Polyether- unpolar. Polyester- polar.
This has some basic consequences:

The polar Polyester adheres better to metal


surfaces(aluminium foil and metallized films), does not
absorb much slip and maintains CoF in polyolefin
substrates.
The unpolar Polyether is more able to absorb slip
additives. There may be better bonds but also a slip
drop on the other side of the polyolefin substrate.
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Different Behavior On Slip Agents


Polyether- based : MOR-FREE 400 A + C
78F
Polyester- based : MOR-FREE 115 A + C 39

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
200

0,25
0,2

COF

N/15mm

Structure:
Nylon/LDPE 50 m/75 m
Bond Strength
COF

0,15
0,1
0,05

300

400

500

600

0
200

300

ppm ESA

400

500

ppm ESA

MOR-FREE 400 A + C 78

MOR-FREE 400 A + C 78

MOR-FREE 115 A + C 39

MOR-FREE 115 A + C 39

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600

Other Factors
Roll Hardness - Gauge Bands
Temperature and Humidity During
Manufacture
Printing and Laminating Conditions
Storage Conditions
Oven Temperatures - In Line Treatment
Dusting - (potato starch)

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Summary
Slip migration

Solubility of amide in the adhesive is


the key to adhesive and slip performanc
S-Factor:
Surface saturation by slip additives

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Summary
Polar polyester adheres to metal, maintains
CoF in polyolefin substrates due to limited
solubility of amide in adhesive
Less polar polyether has better bonds on
polyolefin substrates, but loss of slip on the
back side of the substrate may be observed
(better solubility of amide in adhesive)

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