Hydrophilic surfaces adhesion

Increased water resistance Increased tensile strength Increased block resistance Increased solvent resistance Increased adhesion to hydrophilic surfaces... 

Poly(vinyl butyral), prepared by reacting poly(vinyl alcohol) with -butyraldehyde, finds wide appHcation as the interlayer in safety glass and as an adhesive for hydrophilic surfaces (161). Another example is the reaction of poly(vinyl alcohol) with formaldehyde to form poly(vinyl formal), used in the production of synthetic fibers and sponges (162). 

Most molded plastics have a very smooth, hydrophobic surface that must be modified. Chemical etchants are used to oxidize and roughen the surface. The resultant hydrophilic surface promotes good metal-to-plastic adhesion. The etchant is usually a solution of chromic acid and sulfuric acid pure chromic acid can also be used. 

The low temperature ene reaction of triazolinediones with polydienes occur under heterogeneous conditions to yield hydrophilic surfaces, especially after neutralization of the resulting pendant urazole groups. Permanent hydrophilic surfaces can be obtained when (TD)2DPM is used. The use of the other RTDs tested results in surfaces that lose their hydrophilicity within 5-20 days. In applications such as improving the adhesion of rubber to other substrates, these reagents are probably sufficient (18). However, when more permanent hydrophilic surfaces are desired a bis-triazolinedione such as (TD)2DPM would be required. 

Poly(vinyl alcohol) and aldehydes form products which find use in the manufacture of safety glass and as adhesives for hydrophilic surfaces. 

Note that many of these surface reactions involve the conversion of a hydrophophic polymer to one with a hydrophilic surface or vice versa. For example, the replacement of trifluoroethoxy groups at the interface by hydroxyl units changes a non-adhesive, highly hydrophobic surface to an adhesive hydrophilic one. Variations in the reaction conditions allow both the depth of transformation and the ratios of the initial to the new surface groups to be controlled. A possible complication that needs to be kept in mind for all of these surface transformations is that polymer molecular motions may bury the newly introduced functional units if the polymer comes into contact with certain media. For example, a hydrophilic surface on a hydrophobic polymer may become buried when that surface is exposed to dry air or a hydrophobic liquid. But this process can be reversed by exposure to a hydrophilic liquid. 

Polymer films have been obtained by plasma polymerization of hexafluorobenzene, N-vinylpyrrolidine, and chloracrylonitrile (Munro). Higuchi et al. have shown that irradiation of an azobenzene-modified poly(Y-methyl-L-glutamate-CO-L-glutamic acid) in bilayer membrane vesicles of distearyldimethylammonium chloride leads to trans-cis isomerization of the polymer this leads to transfer of the polypeptide from the hydrophobic bilayer membrane interior to the hydrophilic surface. As a result, there was a decrease in the ion permeability through the bilayer membrane and the formation of intervesicular adhesion. Eisner and Ritter have prepared photosensitive membranes from an aromatic polyamide and a cinnamate that incorporates a liquid crystalline component. 

Mica can be conveniently cleaved by placing a piece of pressure sensitive adhesive on top of a planar mica specimen. The tape is carefully peeled off the surface, thus exposing a near atomically smooth, clean surface. In ambient conditions this very hydrophilic surface is rapidly covered with airborne adsorbates. 

Cross-linking of thin-film PE can also be induced by excimer UV lamp irradiation, for coating purposes, to change a hydrophilic surface into a hydrophobic one. With this method a PE film can be bonded to another material without adhesive. 

A fresh surface of thermally grown silicon dioxide, it must be pointed out, is hydrophobic. However, it quickly reacts with water vapor in the atmosphere to form silanol (Si—OH) and gradually becomes hydrophilic. In fact, the chemical vapor deposition of silicon dioxide forms only a silanolated surface. Being fairly hydrophobic, resists do not adhere well to hydrophilic surfaces such as Si02-These surfaces contain hydroxyl groups as illustrated in Reaction [11.1]. The adhesion failure of resist films on such surfaces is often observed in the course of development or wet etching. As a result, a surface treatment to promote adhesion is necessary before the resist film is deposited on such surfaces. ... 

Normally, this silyl ether formation reaction is base catalyzed and requires the addition of, for example, an amine, to proceed unless the reagent contains its own base, as is the case with HMDS. The use of HMDS to chemically passivate the hydrophilic surface is notable in another way in that it yields only a gaseous reaction product, ammonia. Other similar adhesion promoters include trimethyl-silyldiethylamine (TMSDEA), which can be more effective but also less stable than HMDS. Wafers with inorganic CVD BARCs, such as Si OyNj, Si Ny, etc., are also typically primed for similar reasons. 

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