Silicone transfer is the migration of low-molecular-weight silicone oligomers from a silicone adhesive onto the surfaces around it. These small molecules are not chemically locked into the adhesive network, so they can move onto a surface on contact, or become airborne, especially when heated, and settle on nearby parts. Even an almost invisible film of them has very low surface energy, which stops paint, coatings, adhesives and solder from wetting the surface. The result is cratering (fisheyes), poor adhesion and failed bonds.

This is why processes that are sensitive to it call for silicone-free tape.

Silicone spreads as an extremely thin, low-surface-energy film. Even trace transfer from a tape can stop paint, coatings and adhesives from wetting a surface. Silicone tape is therefore unsuitable wherever the surface will be painted, coated, bonded or soldered after the tape comes off. Typical examples are automotive and industrial painting, powder coating and metal finishing, aerospace coating and bonding, electronics and PCB manufacturing (soldering, conformal coating, wire bonding), semiconductor and cleanroom production, and solar cell and medical device manufacturing.

Both are organic polymers with carbon-based backbones, and both lose cohesion as temperature rises. Rubber adhesives contain unsaturated double bonds that react with oxygen when heated, so the adhesive turns brittle and loses tack. Acrylic adhesives soften as they approach their glass transition temperature and begin to creep under load. Once cohesion is lost, the result is adhesive residue, edge flow or loss of hold. The adhesive must also stay firmly anchored to the backing at temperature, which without proper priming is another weak point.

Difficult does not mean impossible. With careful formulation, cross-linking, antioxidants and backing treatment, acrylic and rubber tapes can be made to perform reliably at high temperature. That is what our silicone-free range is built to do.

It comes down to chemistry. Silicone adhesives are built on a siloxane backbone (alternating silicon and oxygen atoms, Si–O–Si), while acrylic and rubber adhesives are built on carbon chains. The siloxane backbone resists heat and oxidation far better, and it stays flexible across a very wide temperature range. In a typical formulation, silicone polymer is combined with a silicone resin and cured into a cross-linked network that holds the adhesive together when it is hot. The result is an adhesive that stays tacky and can still be removed cleanly at temperatures where most organic adhesives soften, oxidize or break down. With a suitable backing such as polyimide, silicone tapes can serve up to about 260°C.

A tape is only "high-temperature" if it still works after the heat. We judge it by three standards, at a stated temperature and exposure time:

Clean removal. It peels off after heat exposure without leaving adhesive residue.

Material stability. The tape does not deteriorate at temperature. The adhesive and backing stay intact, with no melting, charring, embrittlement or shrinkage.

Retained adhesion. Peel adhesion to a steel plate, measured while hot, stays at a reasonable level, so the tape holds its position throughout the process.

A temperature rating only means something when a time is attached: 200°C for 30 minutes is a very different requirement from 200°C for 500 hours.

First-time customers may place a small trial order. For all subsequent orders, the minimum order value is USD 2,000.00 per order.

We are the manufacturer. We have been producing high-temperature resistant tapes for 25 years.

We can provide free samples; the shipping cost is to be borne by the customer.