Adhesive bond wetting

Wetting - The spreading out (and sometimes absorption) of a fluid onto (or into) a surface. In adhesive bonding, wetting occurs when the surface... 

Rider and Amott were able to produce notable improvements in bond durability in comparison with simple abrasion pre-treatments. In some cases, the pretreatment improved joint durability to the level observed with the phosphoric acid anodizing process. The development of aluminum platelet structure in the outer film region combined with the hydrolytic stability of adhesive bonds made to the epoxy silane appear to be critical in developing the bond durability observed. XPS was particularly useful in determining the composition of fracture surfaces after failure as a function of boiling-water treatment time. A key feature of the treatment is that the adherend surface prepared in the boiling water be treated by the silane solution directly afterwards. Given the adherend is still wet before immersion in silane solution, the potential for atmospheric contamination is avoided. Rider and Amott have previously shown that such exposure is detrimental to bond durability. 

The outer surfaces of these plasma polymers are terminated with hydroxyl groups and have high surface energies. They are readily wet by adhesives and form strong and durable adhesive bonds [51]. 

NR adhesives can be divided in two types wet bonding and dry bonding. Wet bonding adhesives are applied on substrates in a fluid state, the bond being formed by drying. The dry bonding NR adhesives are pressure-sensitive adhesives because the bond is created under pressure. 

Polyelectrolytes form the basis of those modern cements which are distinguished by their ability to adhere to reactive surfaces. At present the main use of such cements lies in the medical field, principally in dental surgery. They adhere permanently to biological surfaces where they have to withstand adverse conditions of wetness, chemical attack, the stress of biological activity, and chemical and biological changes within the substrate. Nevertheless, adhesive bonds are maintained. 

Wilson (1974) emphasized the importance of wetting the substrate surface. Later, as the reaction proceeded, these hydrogen bonds would be replaced by ionic salt bridges. Wilson stressed the importance of the polymeric nature of these cements in adhesion. Their polymeric nature allowed interfacial gaps between cement and substrate to be bridged and also provided a multiplicity of bonds. Under oral conditions, where the substrate is subject to change, adhesive bonds will be broken, but if there are a multiplicity of these, attachment of the cement to the substrate will endure and allow broken bonds to be re-established. It is significant that... 

One of the most important requirements of a structural adhesive bond is durability that is, the ability to retain a significant portion of its load bearing capability for long periods of time under the wide variety of environmental conditions which are likely to be encountered during service life.CjJ Unfortunately, the poor durability of metal/adhesive bonds in wet, hostile environments has proven to be the major obstacle to widespread development and practical usage within many industries. 

Moisture acts as a debonding agent through one of or a combination of the following mechanisms 1) attack of the metallic surface to form a weak, hydrated oxide interface, 2) moisture assisted chemical bond breakdown, or 3) attack of the adhesive. (2 ) A primary drawback to good durability of metal/adhesive bonds in wet environments is the ever present substrate surface oxide. Under normal circumstances, the oxide layer can be altered, but not entirely removed. Since both metal oxides and water are relatively polar, water will preferentially adsorb onto the oxide surface, and so create a weak boundary layer at the adhesive/metal interface. For the purposes of this work, the detrimental effects of moisture upon the adhesive itself will be neglected. The nitrile rubber modified adhesive used here contains few hydrolyzable ester linkages and therefore will be considered to remain essentially stable. 

Adhesion is created by primary and secondary forces according to the theory of adsorption interaction. This theory is applied the most widely for the description of interaction in particulate filled or reinforced polymers [30]. The approach is based on the theory of contact wetting and focuses its attention mainly on the influence of secondary forces. Accordingly, the strength of the adhesive bond is assumed to be proportional to the reversible work of adhesion (W ), which is necessary to separate two phases with the creation of two new surfaces. 

Two steps have been described in adhesive bond formation (1) intimate contact of the mucoadhesive agent and of mucus or mucosa consequent to wetting and (2) formation of physical or chemical bonds between the biological substrate and the mucoadhesive agent, preceded, in the case of polymeric materials, by interpenetration and diffusion between the bioadhesive and the mucin glycoprotein. 

Synthetic surfactants and polymers are probably most often used to modify the characteristics of a solid surface, i.e., they function at the solid - liquid interface, such as in the processes of detergency, lubrication, or the formation of adhesive bonds. The performance of modem FT - IR spectrometers is such that many new applications to the characterization of the solid - liquid interface, particularly in kinetics studies, are possible. Reflection - absorption spectroscopy and attenuated total reflectance (ATR) techniques have been applied to "wet" interfaces, even the air - water interface, and have figured prominently in recent studies of "self -assembled" mono - and multilayers. 

The potential for hydrogen bonding between a phenolic resin and wood depends upon (1) The number of reactive groups on the resin and wood molecules at which hydrogen bonding may occur (2) The ability of the adhesive to wet and penetrate the capillary structure of the wood ... 

Such adhesives are required to remain stable at elevated temperatures over periods of several hours (during normal daily operation of production equipment) and formulations that decompose under such conditions or in which pronounced changes of viscosity occur are not suitable. In order to achieve the bond strength required the adhesive must wet properly the substrates as soon as it is applied—so the temperature of the substrates can be important (if too cold they may absorb heat, cause cooling of the adhesive prematurely—before the surfaces are wetted—and impede bonding). 

---