Polyolefins film surface changes

The bonding of a viscoelastic material (a film of glue) onto a solid surface can only be expected, then, when the surface tension of the liquid is lower than the critical surface tension 7. of the solid body. According to equation (13-3), these two quantities are related to the contact angle S and the interfacial surface tension between solid and adhesive film. Since a chemical variation in the surface can also cause the surface tension to change, it is often possible to obtain better bonding through chemical modification of a surface. An example of this is the oxidation of the surface of polyolefins [see the critical surface tensions of poly(ethylene) and poly-(vinyl alcohol) in Table 13-3]. 

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