Looking Ahead

Specialty tapes

Specialty tapes also make tough demands on release-liner performance, as Michel Sabo, product manager, bonding and joining, for Nitto Europe, showed in his presentation. Whatever the end use, he said, the release liner’s function is to increase the productivity of the customer, and the tape manufacturers have high expectations of what the release-liner manufacturers should deliver for the future. Silicone-free release (widely requested in the automotive industry); reduced thickness with uncompromising stability; anti-static properties (generally a negative feature of plastics materials); recyclability; and clean-room manufacturing are some of the items on the agenda.