Adhesion of polymers

Published Date
Progress in Polymer Science
September 2009, Vol.34(9):948–968, doi:10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2009.04.007

Author 

• Firas Awaja ^a,,
• Michael Gilbert ^b
• Georgina Kelly ^a
• Bronwyn Fox ^a
• Paul J. Pigram ^b

• aCentre for Material and Fibre Innovation, Geelong Technology Precinct, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia
• bCentre for Materials and Surface Science and Department of Physics, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia

Received 25 June 2008. Revised 20 April 2009. Accepted 27 April 2009. Available online 28 May 2009. 

Abstract

Most industrially applied polymer resins and composites have low surface free energy and lack polar functional groups on their surface, resulting in inherently poor adhesion properties. A strong research momentum to understand polymer adhesion in the last decade has been motivated by the growing needs of the automotive and aerospace industries for better adhesion of components and surface coatings. This paper reviews the recent research efforts on polymer adhesion with a special focus on adhesion mechanisms. It starts with an introduction to adhesion with explanatory notes on adhesion phenomena. Recent research on the adhesion mechanisms of mechanical coupling, chemical bonding and thermodynamic adhesion is then discussed. The area of adhesion promoters is reviewed with the focus on plasma and chemical treatments, along with direct methods for adhesion measurement. The topics of polymer blends and reactive polymerization are considered and the interactions with adhesion mechanisms are reported. The concluding section provides recommendations regarding future research on the contentious aspects of currently accepted adhesion mechanisms and on strategies for enhancing polymer adhesion strength.

Keywords

Adhesion

Polymer

Thermodynamic

Diffusion

Molecular bonding

Plasma

Blends

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  Corresponding author. Current address: School of Physics, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Fax: +61 2 90367158.

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