Transition from viscoelastic to fracture-like peeling of pressure-sensitive adhesives

We investigate the process of the slow unrolling of a roll of typical pressure-sensitive adhesive, Scotch tape, under its own weight. Probing the peeling velocities down to nm/s resolution, which is three orders of magnitudes lower than earlier measurements, we find that the speed is still non-zero. Moreover, the velocity is correlated to the relative humidity. A humidity increase leads to water uptake, making the adhesive weaker and easier to peel. At very low humidity, the adhesive becomes so stiff that it mainly responds elastically, leading to a peeling process akin to interfacial fracture. We provide a quantitative understanding of the peeling velocity in the two regimes.

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