Silicone-based adhesives for long-term skin application: cleaning protocols and their effect on peel strength

Adhesives that involve adhesion to the skin have been of great technological importance inmedical or pharmaceutical fields, including recently emergingwearable sensors and electronics. The objective of this workwas to evaluate the performances of silicone-based adhesives with skin, using a peel adhesion test. Specifically, we explored the effect of adhesive cleansing, which is an inevitable daily event for patients’ comfort in long-term applications. Firstly, threemedical grade silicone gels, Silbione®RT 4717, Silbione®RT4642, and Silpuran® 2130, were used to fabricate adhesive pads. Their peel strength values were subsequentlymeasured and compared, amongwhich Silbione®RT gel 4717 possessed the highest peel strength. Therefore, it was selected as the rawmaterial to fabricate the padswith a thickness range of 640–740 μm. Secondly, the peel adhesion of Silbione®RT4717 adhesive padwas further comparedwith a series of commercial products that employ variousmedical-grade adhesives. The peel strength results indicated that our custom-made adhesive pad had an adequately strong adhesion for clinical use. Thirdly, in order to observe and predict the long-termperformance of the adhesives, an aging test was performed in an ambient environment, revealing that Silbione®RT 4717 adhesive remained highly sticky for 5 days. Lastly, adequate cleansing protocols were established by monitoring the changes in peel strength after washing andwiping events. The reusability analysis showed that Silbione® 4717 adhesive padwas reusable in a one-week period for thewashingmethod and 3 days for thewipingmethod.