| abstract |
An article comprising (a) a curved substrate having a surface energy below 45 dynes/cm2; (b) flexible retroreflective sheeting; and (c) a crosslinked tackified pressure-sensitive adhesive adhering the sheeting to the curved substrate. The adhesive comprises: (i) from about 65 to about 99 parts by weight of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of a first monofunctional acrylate or methacrylate ester of a non-tertiary alkyl alcohol, and mixtures thereof, the alkyl group of which comprises from about 4 to about 12 carbon atoms, which as a homopolymer has a glas transition temperature less than -25 °C; (ii) from about 1 to about 10 part(s) by weight of a polar monomer copolymerizable with the monomer(s) of component (i); (iii) optionally from 0 to about 25 parts by weight of a non-polar ethylenically unsaturated monomer copolymerizable with components (i) and (ii) selected from the group consisting of alkyl acrylates, N-alkyl acrylamides, and combinations thereof, whose homopolymer has a solubility parameter of no greater that 10.50 and a Tg greater than 15 °C; (iv) from about 1 to about 65 parts by weight of a tackifier based upon the total weight of components (i), (ii), and (iii); and (v) optionally from 0 to about 1 part by weight of a crosslinking agent based upon the total weight of components (i), (ii), and (iii). Another embodiment of the present invention is a method of making the articles of the present invention using bulk UV polymerization. |