Adhesion of polymers

Dissimilar Materials Bonding Using Epoxy Monolith

The epoxy monolith with a highly porous structure is fabricated by the thermal curing of 2,2-bis(4-glycidyloxyphenyl)propane and 4,4'-methylenebis(cyclohexylamine) in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) as the porogen via polymerization-induced phase separation. In this study, we demonstrated a new type of dissimilar material bonding method for various polymers and metals coated with the epoxy monolith. On the basis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations, the pore size and number of epoxy monoliths were evaluated to be 1.1-114 μm and 8.7-48 200 mm^-2, respectively, depending on the ratio of the epoxy resin and cross-linking agent used for the monolith fabrication. Various kinds of thermoplastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyoxymethylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer, polycarbonate bisphenol-A, and poly(ethylene terephthalate), were bonded to the monolith-modified metal plates by thermal welding. The bond strength for the single lap-shear tensile test of stainless steel and copper plates with the thermoplastics was in the range of 1.2-7.5 MPa, which was greater than the bond strength value for each bonding system without monolith modification. The SEM observation of fractured test pieces directly confirmed an anchor effect on this bonding system. The elongated deformation of the plastics that filled in the pores of the epoxy monolith, was observed. It was concluded that the bond strength significantly depended on the intrinsic strength of the used thermoplastics. The epoxy monolith bonding of hard plastics, such as polystyrene and poly(methyl methacrylate), was performed by the additional use of adhesives, solvents, and a reactive monomer. The epoxy monolith sheets were also successfully fabricated and applied to dissimilar material bonding.

Development of Novel Test Specimens for Characterization of Multi-Material Parts Manufactured by Material Extrusion

Multi-material additive manufacturing (AM) offers new design opportunities for functional integration and opens new possibilities in innovative part design, for example, regarding the integration of damping or conductive structures. However, there are no standardized test methods, and thus test specimens that provide information about the bonding quality of two materials printed together. As a result, a consideration of these new design potentials in conceptual design is hardly possible. As material extrusion (ME) allows easily combination of multiple polymeric materials in one part, it is chosen as an AM technique for this contribution. Based on a literature review of commonly used standards for polymer testing, novel test specimens are developed for the characterization of the bonding quality of two ME standard materials printed together. The proposed specimen geometries are manufactured without a variation of process parameters. The load types investigated in the course of this study were selected as examples and are tensile, lap-shear, and compression-shear. The conducted tests show that the proposed test specimens enable a quantification of the bonding quality in the material transition. Moreover, by analyzing the fracture pattern of the interface zone, influencing factors that probably affect the interface strength are identified, which can be further used for its optimization.

Morphology in Multilayer Blown Films of Polypropylene and Ethylene-Octene Copolymer Blends

In this work the microstructure of multilayer blown films consisting of a core layer placed between two external ones is studied. The core layer is a blend with 70 ° (w/w) of a homopolypropylene PP and 30 ° of a metallocene-catalyzed ethylene-octene copolymer mEOC (LLDPE or VLDPE), whereas the external symmetrical layers are composed of LLDPE or they have the same composition as the core layer. The PP and PE crystalline phases formed during the film blowing were investigated by thermal analysis, mechanical properties, TEM morphology and X-ray diffraction pole figures. These films successfully combine the high mechanical strength of PP with the quasi-isotropic behavior of blown PE. Multilayer film containing PP/mEOC blends, particularly blends of PP70/LLDPE30, show better balanced tensile properties when compared at crossed directions. The presence of VLDPE in the blends shifts downwards the melting and crystallization temperatures and crystallinity of PP. X-Ray pole figures suggest the occurrence of epitaxial crystallization of the PE phase upon the PP crystals in these PP/mEOC blend films.

Optimisation of the Adhesion of Polypropylene-Based Materials during Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing

Polypropylene (PP) parts produced by means of extrusion-based additive manufacturing, also known as fused filament fabrication, are prone to detaching from the build platform due to their strong tendency to shrink and warp. Apart from incorporating high volume fractions of fillers, one approach to mitigate this issue is to improve the adhesion between the first deposited layer and the build platform. However, a major challenge for PP is the lack of adhesion on standard platform materials, as well as a high risk of welding on PP-based platform materials. This study reports the material selection of build platform alternatives based on contact angle measurements. The adhesion forces, investigated by shear-off measurements, between PP-based filaments and the most promising platform material, an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE), were optimised by a thorough parametric study. Higher adhesion forces were measured by increasing the platform and extrusion temperatures, increasing the flow rate and decreasing the thickness of the first layer. Apart from changes in printer settings, an increased surface roughness of the UHMW-PE platform led to a sufficient, weld-free adhesion for large-area parts of PP-based filaments, due to improved wetting, mechanical interlockings, and an increased surface area between the two materials in contact.

A study of laser surface treatment in bonded repair of composite aircraft structures

Surface pre-treatment is one of the key processes in bonded repair of aircraft carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites. This paper investigates the surface modification of physical and chemical properties by laser ablation and conventional polish treatment techniques. Surface morphology analysed by laser scanning confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed that a laser-treated surface displayed higher roughness than that of a polish-treated specimen. The laser-treated laminate exhibited more functional groups in the form of O 1 s/C 1 s atomic ratio of 30.89% for laser-treated and 20.14% for polish-treated as evidenced by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy observation. Contact angle goniometry demonstrated that laser treatment can provide increased surface free energy and wettability. In the light of mechanical interlocking, molecular bonding and thermodynamics theories on adhesion, laser etching process displayed enhanced bonding performance relative to the polishing surface treatment. These properties resulted in an increased single lap shear strength and a cohesive failure mode for laser etching while an adhesive failure mode occurred in polish-treated specimen.

Polydopamine and Polydopamine-Silane Hybrid Surface Treatments in Structural Adhesive Applications

Numerous studies have focused on the remarkable adhesive properties of polydopamine, which can bind to substrates with a wide range of surface energies, even under aqueous conditions. This behavior suggests that polydopamine may be an attractive option as a surface treatment in structural bonding applications, where good bond durability is required. Here, we assessed polydopamine as a surface treatment for bonding aluminum plates with an epoxy resin. A model epoxy adhesive consisting of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and Jeffamine D230 polyetheramine was employed, and lap shear measurements (ASTM D1002 10) were made (i) under dry conditions to examine initial bond strength and (ii) after exposure to hot/wet (63 °C in water for 14 days) conditions to assess bond durability. Surprisingly, our results showed that polydopamine alone as a surface treatment provided no benefit beyond that obtained by exposing the substrates to an alkaline solution of tris buffer used for the deposition of polydopamine. This implies that polydopamine has a potential Achilles' heel, namely, the formation of a weak boundary layer that was identified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) of the fractured surfaces. In fact, for longer deposition times (2.5 and 18 h), the tris buffer-treated surface outperformed the polydopamine surface treatments, suggesting that tris buffer plays a unique role in improving adhesive performance even in the absence of polydopamine. We further showed that the use of polydopamine-3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) hybrid surface treatments provided significant improvements in bond durability at extended deposition times relative to both polydopamine and an untreated control.

Diagnostics of microwave assisted electron cyclotron resonance plasma source for surface modification of nylon 6

Looking at the increasing scope of plasma processing of materials surface, here we present the development and diagnostics of a microwave assisted Electron Cyclotron Resonance (ECR) plasma system suitable for surface modification of polymers. Prior to the surface-treatment, a detailed diagnostic mapping of the plasma parameters throughout the reactor chamber was carried out by using single and double Langmuir probe measurements in Ar plasma. Conventional analysis of I-V curves as well as the elucidation form of the Electron Energy Distribution Function (EEDF) has become the source of calibration of plasma parameters in the reaction chamber. The high energy tail in the EEDF of electron temperature is seen to extend beyond 60 eV, at much larger distances from the ECR zone. This proves the suitability of the rector for plasma processing, since the electron energy is much beyond the threshold energy of bond breaking in most of the polymers. Nylon 6 is used as a representative candidate for surface processing in the presence of Ar, H₂ + N₂, and O₂ plasma, treated at different locations inside the plasma chamber. In a typical case, the work of adhesion is seen to almost get doubled when treated with oxygen plasma. Morphology of the plasma treated surface and its hydrophilicity are discussed in view of the variation in electron density and electron temperature at these locations. Nano-protrusions arising from plasma treatment are set to be responsible for the hydrophobicity. Chemical sputtering and physical sputtering are seen to influence the surface morphology on account of sufficient electron energies and increased plasma potential.

Impact of non-binder ingredients and molecular weight of polymer binders on heat assisted twin screw dry granulation

Two grades of commercial AFFINISOL™ HPMC HME were used as polymer binders to explore the influence of polymer viscosity and concentration on a novel heat assisted dry granulation process with a twin screw extruder. Contributions of other non-binder ingredients in the formulations were also studied for lactose, microcrystalline cellulose and an active pharmaceutical ingredient of caffeine. As sensitive indicators of processing conditions that expose the drug to high internally generated heat, dehydration of α-lactose monohydrate and polymorphic transformation of caffeine were monitored by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). Additionally, any decomposition of caffeine was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Granular samples were characterized by particle size, circularity, fracture strength and their temperature on the exit of extruder. Higher screw speed and lower feed rate were found to help particles agglomerate by allowing feed particles a greater opportunity to increase in temperature. Lower binder molecular weight and higher binder concentration enable granules to build stronger strength and thereby lead to higher particle size. This new twin screw dry granulation was demonstrated as offering advantages over conventional hot melt granulation by minimizing thermal degradation of the tested ingredients.

Double-Layer Surface Modification of Polyamide Denture Base Material by Functionalized Sol-Gel Based Silica for Adhesion Improvement

PURPOSE

Limited surface treatments have been proposed to improve the bond strength between autopolymerizing resin and polyamide denture base materials. Still, the bond strength of autopolymerizing resins to nylon polymer is not strong enough to repair the fractured denture effectively. This study aimed to introduce a novel method to improve the adhesion of autopolymerizing resin to polyamide polymer by a double layer deposition of sol-gel silica and N-2-(aminoethyl)-3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (AE-APTMS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The silica sol was synthesized by acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as silica precursors. Polyamide specimens were dipped in TEOS-derived sol (TS group, n = 28), and exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light under O₂ flow for 30 minutes. UV-treated specimens were immersed in AE-APTMS solution and left for 24 hours at room temperature. The other specimens were either immersed in AE-APTMS solution (AP group, n = 28) or left untreated (NT group, n = 28). Surface characterization was investigated by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Two autopolymerizing resins (subgroups G and T, n = 14) were bonded to the specimens, thermocycled, and then tested for shear bond strength with a universal testing machine. Data were analyzed with one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's HSD (α = 0.05).

RESULTS

FTIR spectra of treated surfaces confirmed the chemical modification and appearance of functional groups on the polymer. One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences in shear bond strength among the study groups. Tukey's HSD showed that TS_T and TS_G groups had significantly higher shear bond strength than control groups (p = 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Moreover, bond strength values of AP_T were statistically significant compared to controls (p = 0.017).

CONCLUSION

Amino functionalized TEOS-derived silica coating is a simple and cost-effective method for improving the bond strength between the autopolymerizing resin and polyamide denture base.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Amino-functionalized silica coating could represent a more applicable and convenient option for improving the repair strength of autopolymerizing resin to polyamide polymer.

Electrostatic Polysulfides Confinement to Inhibit Redox Shuttle Process in the Lithium Sulfur Batteries

Cationic polymer can capture polysulfide ions and inhibit polysulfide shuttle effect in lithium sulfur (Li-S) rechargeable batteries, enhancing the Li-S battery cycling performance. The cationic poly[bis(2-chloroethyl) ether-alt-1,3-bis[3-(dimethylamino) propyl]urea] quaternized (PQ) with a high density quaternary ammonium cations can trap the lithium polysulfide through the electrostatic attraction between positively charged quaternary ammonium (R₄N⁺) and negatively charged polysulfide (S_x^2-). PQ binder based sulfur electrodes deliver much higher capacity and provide better stability than traditional polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binder based electrodes in Li-S cells. A high sulfur loading of 7.5 mg/cm² is achieved, which delivers a high initial areal capacity of 9.0 mAh/cm² and stable cycling capacity at around 7.0 mAh/cm² in the following cycles.

The synergy between natural polyphenol-inspired catechol moieties and plant protein-derived bio-adhesive enhances the wet bonding strength

Novel soybean meal-based biomimetic (STP) adhesives were fabricated via soybean meal (SM) and enhanced by tannic acid (TA) and polyetheylenimine (PEI) (TAPI) co-crosslinking network based on natural polyphenol-inspired chemistry. The multiple physico-chemical interactions (including intermolecular H-bonding and covalent bonding) between the TAPI co-crosslinking system and SM matrices were examined by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that a dense, robust, and water-resistant adhesive layer was constructed between network-bound catechol moieties in the TAPI and SM system, endowing the STP adhesive with high wet bonding strength for plywood. As expected, TAPI-modified SM adhesives showed a 156.1% increase in wet bonding strength compared to the control SM adhesive. The adhesion meets standard requirements for interior-use plywood. Both the solid content and residual mass analysis also confirmed that the enhancement in the STP adhesive was attributable to the network crosslinking density and stiffness after integrating the TAPI system. Moreover, the thermal stability of the resultant STP adhesive exhibited a significant improvement. The proposed STP adhesive may be a promising cost-effective and wet-resistant bio-adhesive for the application in the wood composites industry.

Surface Structure of Acrylate Polymer Adhesives

Total internal reflection infrared (IR) absorption and visible-IR sum-frequency spectroscopies were used to study the role of acrylic acid in the evolution of surface structure in a poly(butyl acrylate)-based pressure-sensitive adhesive during the drying process. By monitoring these spectral responses and calculating the heterospectral correlation coefficients, we established that acrylic acid alters the nature of the molecular interactions at the surface. In the absence of acrylic acid, butyl acrylate orientation is driven by the packing of the polymer as the water evaporates. When acrylic acid is present, a rapid ordering of the copolymer takes place as a result of favorable hydrogen-bonding interactions with the surface.

Fluoride degradable and thermally debondable polyurethane based adhesive

A polyurethane-based adhesive has been produced that can undergo multiple thermal debonding/bonding cycles and also irreversibly debond through depolymerisation on contact with fluoride ions.

Plasma treatment effect on polymer buried interfacial structure and property

Adhesion is important in many industrial applications including those in the microelectronics industry.

Protection of active implant electronics with organosilicon open air plasma coating for plastic overmolding

To overcome challenges for manufacturing of modern smart medical plastic parts by injection molding, e.g. for active implants, the optimization of the interface between electronics and the polymer component concerning adhesion and diffusion behavior is crucial. Our results indicate that a nano-sized SiOxCyHz layer formed by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PE-CVD) via open air atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) and by use of a hexamthyldisiloxane (HMDSO) precursor can form a non-corrosive, anti-permeable and biocompatible coating. Due to the open air character of the APPJ process an inline coating before overmolding could be an easy applicable method and a promising advancement.

Effect of air dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment on the adhesion property of sanded polyphenylene sulfide

Air dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was employed to treat the sanded polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) surface. The plasma-treated PPS samples were bonded with epoxy adhesive, and the adhesion strength was measured by the single lap-joint specimen test. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water contact angle analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were applied to investigate the effect of the plasma treatment on the PPS surface property. A slight etching trace was detected after the plasma treatment according to the SEM images. XPS and water contact angle analysis indicated that the plasma treatment introduced sulfide oxides (S=O and O=S=O) onto the PPS surface leading to a higher surface energy. A steady improvement of bonding shear strength was achieved with the increase of plasma treatment time or discharge power density, which was consistent with the failure mode study. According to the above analysis, the air DBD plasma treatment could effectively improve the adhesion property of PPS.

Intrinsically heat-sealable polyimide films derived from 2,3,3′,4′-oxydiphthalic anhydride and aromatic diamines with various ether linkages

A series of polyimides (PIs) with good heat sealability were synthesized from an asymmetric aromatic dianhydride, 2,3,3′,4′-oxydiphthalic anhydride, and aromatic ether diamines with different structures featured by ether amounts, substituted positions of ether linkages, and substituted positions of amino groups. In detail, the effects of these three substructures in the diamine were investigated on thermal resistance, thermoplasticity, and heat sealability of the PI film. It is found that the glass transition temperatures and heat-sealing strengths of the prepared PI films are influenced to different extents by the variations of the substructures, because of their different contributions to the chain mobility. These PI films are demonstrated to possess good heat sealability evidenced by completely fused heat-sealing interfaces and high heat-sealing strengths up to 580 N m−1.

Surface Modification of Polymers by Reaction of Alkyl Radicals

The surfaces of poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyethylene are modified either (i) by a two-step process including the thermal reaction of alkyl radicals derived from bromohexanoic acid in a mixture of 2,6-dimethylbenzene diazonium salt and neat isopentyl nitrite at 60 °C, followed by reaction with p-nitroaniline, anthraquinone, neutral red, and polyethylene glycol moieties, or (ii) by reaction of a previously anthraquinone-modified bromohexanoic acid. The modified surfaces are characterized by IR, XPS, UV, and water contact angles. A mechanism is proposed to rationalize the results. This approach is an efficient way to modify and pattern polymer surfaces with different organic groups and chemical functionalities under mild conditions.

Tough bonding of metallic layers to hydrocarbon surfaces by depositing Ag films

Metallization of polymer materials is a crucial process in the manufacturing of decorative, wear-resistant and electromagnetic shielding coatings in the automotive, electronics and instrumentation industry.

Effect of Modification with Various Epoxide Compounds on Mechanical, Thermal, and Coating Properties of Epoxy Resin

Epoxy resin (ER) was modified with four different epoxide compounds, 4,5-epoxy-4-methyl-pentane-2-on (EMP), 3-phenyl-1,2-epoxypropane (PhEP), 1-chloro-2,3-epoxy-5-(chloromethyl)-5-hexene (CEH), and a fatty acid glycidyl ester (FAGE), to improve its chemical and physical properties. The effects of the addition and amount of these modifiers on mechanical, thermal, and coating properties were investigated. Atomic force microscopy was used to observe the changes obtained with the modification. The influence of the modifying agents on the curing process was monitored through FTIR spectroscopy. The curing degrees of ER and modified ERs (M-ERs) were found to be over 91%. The results showed that tensile strength of ER improved till 30% (wt.) with addition of the modifier content. Modification with EMP and PhEP remarkably enhanced the thermal stability of ER to be highly resistant to the corrosive media.