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Improved adhesive properties of high-modulus polyethylene structures

Part I Oxidative acid etching

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Abstract

The adhesion of oriented, high-modulus polyethylene-structures to epoxy resins is greatly enhanced by pretreatment with oxidizing acids. For KMnO4/H2O/H2SO4 treatment a maximum increase in adhesion, as determined by pull-out tests, of 600% was found. Chromic and chlorosulphonic acid treatment improves the adhesion with 550% and 300% respectively. Moreover, this improvement was obtained without substantially affecting the mechanical properties. The modulus remained the same, whereas tensile strength decreased by less than 10% after this treatment. By monitoring the changes in surface topography (SEM) and surface composition (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) the improvement in adhesion could be related to the introduction of functional oxygen-containing groups, i.e. hydroxyl, carbonyl, carboxyl. Furthermore, at the highest level of adhesion obtained the failure mode changed from interface controlled to shear failure within the polyethylene structure.

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Mercx, F.P.M., Benzina, A., van Langeveld, A.D. et al. Improved adhesive properties of high-modulus polyethylene structures. J Mater Sci 28, 753–759 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01151252

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01151252

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