Polytetrafluoroethylene adhesion

Dekker A, Reitsma K, Beugeling T, Bant]es A, Fei]en J and van Aken W G 1991 Adhesion of endothelial-oells and adsorption of serum-proteins on gas plasma-treated polytetrafluoroethylene S/omaferfa/s 12 130-8... 

Fluoropolymers. These form one of our oldest and most spectacular families of engineering plastics. Polytetrafluoroethylene was developed by DuPont over two decades ago, and more recently by Allied Chemical, Hoechst, ICI, Pennwalt, and other manufacturers as well. It combines unusually low adhesion and friction, high temperature and flame resistance, excellent electrical properties, and extreme chemical inertness. Its high melting point and melt viscosity make thermoplastic processing extremely difficult, so that many... 

Surface treatments involving alkali metals are sometimes used to eliminate the characteristic surface properties and promote the adhesion between polytetrafluoroethylene and other substances (Doban Nelson, Kilduff, and Benderly Purvis and Beck Rappaport). It has been shown that these treatments produce a marked increase in the polarity of the surface as measured by the contact angle with various liquids (Allan, 1957). They also increase the coefficient of friction. One interesting application of surface properties of polytetrafluoroethylene was reported by Bowden (1953, 1955) who applied the polymer to the bottoms of his skiis and thereby reduced the friction between the skiis and the snow. 

A fluoroepoxy compound was made from a fluorodiepoxy resin cured with an amine adduct. The use of fluoroepoxies is most advantageous in bonding fluorocarbons such as polytetrafluoroethylene. Good bond strengths are achieved on fluorocarbons without the need to surface-treat the substrate because the surface tension of the fluoroepoxy adhesive is reduced from about 45 to 33 dyn/cm.25... 

Surface Treatment of Polytetrafluoroethylene Primer, Adhesive, Corrosion Inhibiting, -67 to 200°F Primer, Adhesive, Corrosion-Inhibiting, for High Durability Structural Adhesive Bonding... 

In this paper, we report the studies on the adhesion between metals and fluorocarbon polymer films. Fluorocarbon polymer has a dielectric constant of 2.1, lower than that of polyimide, 3.2-3.5, and is attractive to packaging. We have studied the adhesion of Cu to bulk Teflon, a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polymer, and found enhanced adhesion using a presputtering treatment of the Teflon prior to the deposition of Cu (4). Further analysis shows that the morphological changes of the Teflon due to the sputtering treatment could be a major contributor to the enhanced adhesion observed (5). 

Non-polar plastics such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) are more difficult to adhere to. 1,3-butylene glycol diacrylate has shown some efficiency in promoting adhesion to these types of substrates. 

This is a huge general category of materials, which includes both thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers. Tabular data on the corrosion resistance of these materials in a wide range of environments are available from a variety of sources. Commonly used materials of construction in the CPI include polyvinyl chloride (PVC and CPVC), polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fiberglass composite materials, and a variety of epoxies used for coatings or adhesives. 

It has generally been observed that urethane systems, which are cured on the surface of some low energy materials, are also free from adhering to them, i.e. they are self-releasing. Materials which show this characteristic relative to urethanes in a very effective way include at least three different types of plastics polytetrafluoroethylene, polyethylene, and polypropylene. These materials all have a defined critical surface tension sc less than about 30 dynes/cm. Assuming that this value is near, the liquid vapor surface tension lv value of an effective IMR urethane systems, then the work of adhesion as given by Equation 4 is as follows ... 

Tapes. A great variety of tapes find application in electrical equipment. Some tapes contain filler materials in macroscopic form such as glass fibers, mica flakes, and cloth others have finely divided filler particles or no fillers at all. In the heavily filled materials the polymeric binders are present in small fractions, and the major emphasis may be on their adhesive capabilities rather than on their properties as dielectric materials. Most of the polymers used in tapes have already been mentioned in connection with other insulation applications, for example, polyesters, aromatic polyamides, polyimides, and polypropylene. Other polymers frequently used for electrical tapes are vinyls, including poly(vinyl fluoride) these are particularly well suited as conformable tapes. Polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon TFE) has also been fabricated into tape constructions, frequently in combination with adhesives to provide a bondable material. 

The adhesive transfer of organic plastics has some special features of it own. Makinson and Tabor [24] observed that polytetrafluoroethylene sliding on glass left transferred material on the counter surface in the form of lumps, ribbons, sheets or very thin films, depending on the rubbing conditions. Pooley and Tabor [25], who studied the transfer process more intensively, also reported the behavior of other polymers such as fluorocarbon copolymers, polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polymethylmethacrylate and polyvinyl chloride. Descriptions of transfer in relation to wear were reported for PTFE by Tanaka tt ai. [20] and for polyethylene by Miller a.1. [21]... 

The article, which is usually in the form of an impregnated fabric, is laid-up on a mold or a base plate (Figure 6.65 and 6.66) which defines the surface shape of the article. A release agent is applied to the mold surface to prevent adhesion of the part to the mold. A release film, such as a fluoropol5mier typically a fluorinated ethylene propylene copol5mier or a glass fabric coated with polytetrafluoroethylene is often the next layer. Other films such as nylon or polyester can be used where release is less demanding such as lower cure temperature resins. 

Adhesion Tensions. Among the surfaces chosen for discussion are the glassy fluorocarbon studied by Fowkes and Sawyer [31] and poly-tetrafluoroethylene,for which extensive data have been reported by Fox and Zisman [33]. For the latter material values of the adhesion tensions with a series of alkylnaphthalenes and a series of alkyl biphenyls have also been presented by Bascom and Singleterry [10]. These data, along with the glassy fluorocarbon data and a selection of the Fox and Zisman polytetrafluoroethylene data, are given in Table I. 

For the two surfaces in question, plots of adhesion tension versus the surface tension of the liquid phase are given in Figure 2. Of special note are the nearly constant values of the adhesion tensions for various homologous series of hydrocarbon liquids in contact with polytetrafluoroethylene. 

The present discussion is restricted to two of the surfaces studied by Bascom and Singleterry-i.e., polytetrafluoroethylene and polyethylene. Data for two hydrocarbon liquids-n-decane and isopropylbiphenyl-which had nonzero contact angles on each of these surfaces are given in Table in. Also given are the appropriate one-liquid adhesion tensions from Table I. 

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