Improved adhesion for thermoplastic polymers using oxyfluorination
Industrial applications of thermoplastic polymers are often limited by their poor adhesion properties. In this work the effect of surface oxyfluorination on the adhesion properties was investigated for polyethylene (PE), polyoxymethylene (POM), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polyamide 6 (PA6). The adhesive joint strength was quantified using lap-shear tests. These results were correlated with the changes in the chemical composition of the surface, determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), in the surface free energy, measured by the contact angle method, and in the topography, using white-light confocal microscopy. The adhesive strength is strongly improved for all four polymers, but the degree of this increase depends on the polymer type. The surface free energy shows a similar trend for all four polymers. A high surface free energy exceeding 50 mN/m was observed after oxy-fluorination, whereby the polar component was strongly predominant. Surface topography measurements show no significant increase of the surface roughness. So the effect of oxyfluorination results primarily in increased wettability and polarity, due to changes of the chemical composition of the surface. XPS measurements confirm the integration of fluorine and oxygen groups in the polymer chain, which correlates with the increased polarity.
Modification of ultra‐high‐molecular weight polyethylene by various fluorinating routes
Chemical-physical properties of ultra-high-molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) treated by direct fluorination, direct fluorination accompanied with UV irradiation, by XeF2 and by TbF4, were tested by FTIR spectroscopy, visible spectroscopy, 19F and 13C NMR, scanning electron microscopy, XRD, and EPR. Surface energy measurements were carried out. The direct fluo- rination of UHMWPE is a diffusion-controlled process, but treat- ment with XeF2 is a kinetically controlled one. Direct fluorination and direct fluorination accompanied with UV irradiation results mainly in a formation of ACF2A groups. On the contrary, ACHFA groups are prevailing in UHMWPE treated with XeF2 and TbF4. Surface texture of UHMWPE treated with XeF2 and with F2 is quite different. Direct fluorination results in a higher polarity of the polymer surface when compared with treatment with XeF2. For the case of direct fluorination, both long-lived peroxy and flu- oroalkylradicals are formed. For the case of treatment with XeF2, only fluoroalkylradicals were detected. V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 49: 3559-3573, 2011
Photoreflectance characterization of vanadium-doped GaAs layers grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy
Abstract We characterized the vanadium-doped (GaAs:V) layers grown on GaAs substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The conductivity of the samples is checked by the Hall effect measurements, and it is n type with electrons concentration ranging from 2×10 13 to 2×10 17  cm −3 . We used the photoreflectance technique (PR) to study the effect of vanadium doping on the optical properties of GaAs. Our experimental results show that the built-in electric field F and the broadening parameter Γ 0 increase with V-doping concentration. Furthermore, the temperature dependence of the built-in electric field and the broadening parameter of GaAs:V samples have been investigated by PR. It has been observed that these parameters increase with increasing temperature. The decrease of the built-in electric field with decreasing temperature is due to the photovoltage effect.We characterized the vanadium-doped GaAs (GaAs:V) layers grown on GaAs substrate by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy.