Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, Vol.18, No.12, 1395-1414, 2004
Characterization and adhesion testing of mixed silane-treated surfaces
Single silanes have been well studied as adhesion promoters, but there are areas of improvement that could use the properties of an additional silane. This research examines the combination of an adhesion promoter with a second silane of different chemical functionality in order, to increase the number of potential applications. Several techniques are investigated for producing mixed silane layers, including solution deposition, microcontact printing and vapor deposition. The second goal of this research is to determine the adhesion between polymers and heterogeneous micropatterned silanes. The two silanes used are n-octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODTS) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APS). APS is an adhesion promoter between most polymers and oxide surfaces, while ODTS is very hydrophobic and has insignificant adhesion to polymers. Surfaces are characterized with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) with Pulsed Force Mode (PFM), allowing simultaneous topography, adhesion and stiffness measurements of the surface to be generated. In a 180degrees-peel test between poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) and glass, the addition of ODTS results in the decrease of the surface energy and a dramatic decrease in adhesion. In a wedge test, the adhesion of APS is found to be proportional to the percent coverage.
Keywords:heterogeneous silane;microcontact printing;180 degrees-peel test;wedge test;aminosilane;octadecylsilane