Adhesion Measurements for Printed Electronics: A Novel Approach to Cross Cut Testing

A silver paste was screen-printed on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, pretreated with different methods. The adhesion quality was evaluated by a modified cross cut test method implementing a motorized cutting device. Additionally, a semi automatized image analysis method was proposed for the evaluation of cross cut patterns in order to quantify the peeled-off area after tape removal. The feasibility of this novel approach is verified by comparing the results with a standard pull off test. The results show that by implementing image analysis methods the area of paste removed by the adhesive tape can be accurately calculated in an automated way, making it possible to gain quantifiable, user independent and therefore more significant results. Furthermore, the results from cross cut test and from pull off test show a similar trend.