2.3 Peel Strength
A peel strength test can be used to give an indication of the ease of removal of a hydrogel from a substrate. This
gives important information about the strength of the adhesive bond between the hydrogel and the substrate which,
in practice, would be the skin. The shear force required to remove a hydrogel from a substrate can be quantified
provided that the test is carried out at a constant 90q angle. The instrument used in this work was a Hounsfield
Tensile Tester with a withdrawal speed of 500 mm/min, hydrogel strip length of 25 mm and a 100 N load cell.