Urethanes Adhesion behaviour

Polyurethanes continue to be one of the most versatile of all polymers, finding applications in foams (flexible, rigid, and in-between), elastomers, coatings, sealants, adhesives, paints, textiles, and films. This volume presents some of the major advances in polyurethanes, both from the materials and research side of things as well as processing and applications, and includes studies on foams (additives, vacuum panel applications, blowing and processing), elastomers, adhesion behaviour and new urethane raw materials. 

The adhesion behaviour of urethanes depends not only on their composition but also on the contribution of physico-chemical factors, in particular on the surface properties of urethanes. Two specific aspects of surface behaviour are considered in this chapter, which is arranged in three sections the first concerns the ability of some polymers, including PU to adopt a variety of surface structures or orientations, as dictated by preparation conditions and the medium in contact with the urethane polymer. The ability to undergo surface restructuring is a factor in the well documented difference between surface and bulk properties of all polymers. A second aspect of surface behavior, exerting major influence on the adhesion of urethanes to a variety of plastics or glass, is the acid-base interaction between the adhesive polymer and the substrate. Acid-base interactions are a subject of discussion in the second section of this chapter. Finally, the role of silane modifiers in affecting the adhesion behavior of defined urethane adhesive formulations is considered. 

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