Between Metal Atoms and Functional Groups at Polymer Surfaces

The adhesion of metal layers deposited onto polymer surfaces is determined by the concentration and the bond strength of the chemical and physical interactions between the metal atoms and the functional (polar) groups at the polymer surfaces. Each type of functional group produces individual metal-polymer interactions, and makes a specific contribution depending on its concentration to the interfacial adhesion and consequently to the related shear or peel strength of metal-polymer systems (see Fig. 18.1). Thus for each type x of metal-functional group interaction a, the work of adhesion is calculated with Eq. (1), with A=area, I = Loschmidfs constant, and C = concentration. 

The total work of adhesion Wt, follows by summation over all types of interaction [Eq. (2)], presenting the correlation with the macroscopically measured adhesive bond strength, here the peel strength. 

The aim of this work was to prepare a well-defined system for investigating the individual contribution of each type of metal-functional group interaction by designing polymer surfaces with exclusively one type of functional group. Then, the interfacial adhesion is related to only that type of metal-functional 

---