1. Brian Fuchs Ruth Sunderman Mohammed Alzayer Mat E 413 October 31 st, 2014

2. Outline  History Spencer Silver Arthur Fry  Chemistry Material Properties  A Design Perspective Problem Objective  Conclusion The Rest of the Story Post-ing the Numbers

3. History [1] Two Key People: 1.Spencer Silver: A chemist who worked in 3M.  1968: intended to create a strong adhesive for aerospace industry. By accident, he created a weak, pressure- sensitive agent called "Acrylate Copolymer Microspheres"  1973: Silver came up with an idea. Spray it on a bulletin board and stick papers on the board. 3M hated it. Fig. 1: Chemist Spencer Silver [2]

4. History [1] 2.Art Fry: A chemical engineer, worked at 3M.  Mid-1970s: Fry had trouble keeping his pages marked as a church choir director. He remembered Silver’s adhesive which had the problem of detaching from paper. Two other scientists came up with a coating to eliminate the problem.  1977: 3M finally agreed to test sale the 'Press n' Peel' project. Fig. 2: Engineer Arthur Fry [3]

5.  Why 'pressure-sensitive adhesives' (PSA)? PSAs form strong bonds under low pressure and over a short time. PSAs stick on a substrate without the need of an activation agent.  What's a common PSA material? Acrylics are often used. Depending on the application, acrylics properties can be optimized by adjusting the preparation parameters. Chemistry [4]

6.  Post-It PSA is made of inherently tacky, elastomeric, copolymer microspheres "Inherently tacky"- permanently, constantly sticky. “Elastomeric Microspheres"- snap back into shape after removal. Chemistry [5] Fig. 3: SEM photograph of a copolymer microspheres [6]

7. 90-99.5 wt% alkyl acrylate ester and 0.5-10 wt% of one or more "other" monomers - prepared by aqueous suspension. Spherical shape provides a limited surface area available to adhere to the bonding surface enabling removal and reuse. Chemistry [5] Fig. 4: Structures of monomers that can be used [7]

8.  Adhesive testing criteria are tack, peel, and shear strength (aka cohesion) Tack: Ability to adhere quickly Peel: Ability to resist removal by peeling Shear Strength: "Ability to remain in position under shearing forces" Post-It PSA Properties [4] Fig. 5: Peeling a sticky note [8]

9.  Microspheres enable Post-it notes to bond over a minimal surface area: high tack and low peel  Cold flow: adhesive flowing over time at room temperature.  Microspheres form a sparse mono-layer: [9] Don't stick to each other No cold flow Post-It PSA Properties [5]

10.  Problem Disorganization - scattered notes Tapes - leave residue  Objective Find a method that allows us to hang up pieces of paper on any dry surface and remove them without damaging the surface or leaving a residue. We'll skip the determination of constraints, functions, means, etc. Design Perspective Fig. 7: Disorganization [10]

11.  Hang on Any Dry Surface: 2003 - Super-Sticky notes [1]  No Residue or Damage: Not perfect - some libraries ban post-it notes in their books  Going Beyond: Simplicity Reusability Cheap Easily translatable into other products. Meeting the Objective and beyond Fig. 8: Book damage [11]

12. 1977: Test sales in 4 states flop. 1978: The Boise Blitz 1980: Post-it Notes hit the shelves “Once people started using them it was like handing them marijuana. Once you start it, you can't stop.” - Jack Wilkins, 3M Commercial Tape marketing director The Rest of the Story [12] Fig. 9: Success [13]

13. According to 3M:  In 2010, Post-it celebrated the 30th anniversary of their commercial debut.  Available in 150 countries.  27 sizes, 57 colors, and 20 fragrances.  Multiple pop-culture references.  Art medium. Post-ing the Numbers Fig. 10: Post-It Art Mural [14]

14. References [1] Hiskey, Daven. "Post-It Notes Were Invented By Accident." Today I Found Out RSS. 2012. [2] "Liberal Arts and Sciences honors 2 alumni, 3 faculty members" Arizona State University (2009) Web. [3] "Arthur Fry, inventor of the Post-it Note" Wikimedia (2008) Web. [4] Kowalski, Arkadiusz, Zbigniew Czech, and Łukasz Byczyński. "How Does the Surface Free Energy Influence the Tack of Acrylic Pressure-sensitive Adhesives (PSAs)?" Journal of Coatings Technology and Research 10.6 (2013): 879-85. Web. [5] U.S. International Trade Commission. Certain Microsphere Adhesives, Process For Making Same, And Products Containing Same, Including Self-Stick..., Investigation No. 337- TA-366... U.S. International Trade Commission... Jan. 1996. S.l.: S.n., 1997. Google Books. DIANE Publishing. Web. [6] Choe, Sang, Lee, Byung, Kim, Kijung, Oh, Sejin. "TEMPO-mediated dispersion polymerization of styrene" Journal of Polymer Science 44.1 (2006). Web. [7] Silver, Spencer. "Acrylate Copolymer Microspheres." (1972). United States Patent. Web. [8] “Balding Sticky Notes" ThisIsWhyImBroke.com. Web. [9] Halford, Bethany. "Stickey Notes." C&EN: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY. Chemical and Engineering News, 5 Apr. 2004. Web. [10] "Organize and Systemize" NeenJames. Web. [11] De Oliveira, Luis. "How to summarize a book in 2 pages" WordPress.com. Web. [12] "Self-Adhesive Note." How Products Are Made. N.p., 2014. Web. [13] "I am a Post-it Junkie" Rhodia Drive. Web. [14] "Yahoo Post-It Art Mural" graffiti4hire.co.uk. Web. (Accessed Oct 26 th )