The effect of nitrogen and oxygen plasma on the wear properties and adhesion strength of the diamond-like carbon film coated on PTFE

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films were deposited on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) using a radiofrequency plasma chemical vapour deposition method. Prior to DLC coating, the PTFE substrates were modified with O₂ and N₂ plasma to enhance the adhesion strength of the DLC film to the substrate. The effect of the plasma pre-treatment on the chemical composition and the surface energy of the plasma pre-treated PTFE surface was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and static water contact angle measurement, respectively. A pull-out test and a ball-on-disc test were carried out to evaluate the adhesion strength and the wear properties of the DLC-coated PTFE.In the N₂ plasma pre-treatment, the XPS result indicated that defluorination and the nitrogen grafting occurred on the plasma pre-treated PTFE surface, and the water contact angle decreased with increasing the plasma pre-treatment time. In the O₂ plasma pre-treatment, no grafting of the oxygen occurred, and the water contact angle slightly increased with the treatment time. In the pull-out test, the adhesion strength of the DLC film to the PTFE substrate was improved with the plasma pre-treatment to the PTFE substrate, and N₂ plasma pre-treatment was more effective than the O₂ plasma pre-treatment. In the ball-on-disc test, the DLC film with the N₂ plasma pre-treatment showed good wear resistance, compared with that with O₂ plasma pre-treatment.     

Deposition of nanostructured crystalline and corrosion resistant alumina film on bell metal at low temperature by rf magnetron sputtering

Aluminium oxide films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering for protective coatings have been investigated. The alumina films are found to exhibit grainy surface microstructure. The grain size, structure and density depend on different system parameters such as argon and/or oxygen flow rate and applied rf power etc. The effect of transition of the discharge from metallic to reactive mode on the surface characteristics of the alumina film is studied. X-ray diffractometry reveals that in poisoned mode of sputtering and under optimized power and pressure, crystalline alumina film can be grown. Different system conditions are optimized for corrosion resistant aluminium oxide films with good adhesion properties. Nanostructured alumina film is obtained at lower pressure (8 × 10⁻⁴ to 9 × 10⁻⁴ Torr) by rf reactive magnetron sputtering.     

Interface adhesion properties of functional coatings on titanium alloy formed by microarc oxidation method

Three functional coatings (namely Al-C, Si-P-Al and P-F-Al coating) were fabricated by microarc oxidation method on Ti6Al4V alloy in different aqueous solutions. The microstructure, phase and chemical composition of coatings were investigated using scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy. The interface adhesion failure mode of the coating is revealed by shear, tensile and thermal shock methods. The coatings exhibit high adhesion strength by the quantitative shearing test, registering as 110, 70, and 40 MPa for Al-C, Si-P-Al and P-F-Al coating, respectively. The tensile test of the coated samples shows that microarc oxidation treatment does not significantly deteriorate mechanical properties of substrate titanium alloy. The observations of the coating failure after subjected to the identical tensile elongation of 3.0% are well in agreement with those results of the shear test. The thermal cycle test indicates that all the coatings have good anti-thermal shocking properties.     

The wettability of polytetrafluoroethylene and polymethylmethacrylate by aqueous solutions of Triton X-100 and short chain alcohol mixtures

Measurements of advancing contact angles (θ) were carried out for aqueous solutions of Triton X-100 (TX-100) and methanol and ethanol mixtures at constant TX-100 concentration equal to 1 × 10⁻⁷, 1 × 10⁻⁶, 1 × 10⁻⁵, 1 × 10⁻⁴, 6 × 10⁻⁴ and 1 × 10⁻³ M, respectively, on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Using measured contact angle values the relationships between cos θ, adhesion tension and surface tension of the solutions were determined, and on their basis the critical surface tension of PTFE and PMMA wetting was calculated. The obtained average value of the critical surface tension of PTFE wetting is lying in the range of the PTFE surface tension values which can be found in the literature, while for PMMA it is even lower than the Lifshitz-van der Waals component of its surface tension. From the relationship between the adhesion and surface tension and Lucassen-Reynders equation it results that in the case of PTFE the adsorption at the PTFE-solution and solution-air interfaces is the same, which was confirmed by a linear relationship between the cos θ and 1/γ_LV and intercept on cos θ axis equal to −1. However, for PMMA the adsorption of the surface active agents at solution-air interface is higher than at PMMA-solution. Using the values of the contact angle the values of the adhesion work of solution to the PTFE and PMMA surface were also determined, which are constant for PTFE, but for PMMA decrease with alcohol concentration increase. Next, using the contact angle values in the Young equation, the PTFE(PMMA)-solution interface tension was also calculated. The obtained values of PTFE-solution interface tension were compared with those evaluated from the Szyszkowski, Connors and Fainerman and Miller equations, and good agreement between these values was observed for all series of TX-100 and alcohol mixtures at a low alcohol concentration.     

Coating of carbon nanotubes on flexible substrate and its adhesion study

The primary goal of this project was to develop a flexible transparent conductor with 100 Ω/sq and 90% transmittance in the wavelength range of 400-700 nm on a flexible substrate. The best result achieved so far was 110 Ω/sq at 88% transmittance using purified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) coated on a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate. The secondary goal was to simplify the overall coating procedure; we successfully reduced the process from five (prior art method) to three steps utilizing a sonication method. We also found that the use of metallic SWNTs significantly improved the conductivity and transmittance compared with the use of mixed SWNTs, i.e., unseparated SWNTs. Furthermore, a possible adhesion mechanism between SWNTs and the surface of PEN was studied; we concluded that a π-π stacking effect and a hydrophobic interaction are the major contributing factors for SWNTs to adhere to the surface of the substrate.     

Understanding the relationship between the structure of an organofunctional methoxysilane bilayer and its properties as adhesion primer for Zn-epoxidized rubber system

The structure of a new organofunctional methoxysilane bilayer system, which was found to improve the adhesion of epoxidized natural rubber (ENR) to zinc, is analyzed by High Resolution Electron Energy Loss and Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy. This bilayer is formed when zinc plate is successively dip-coated in water-alcohol solutions of γ-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and aminopropyltrimethoxysilane. The optimal adhesion, obtained when both silane layers are cured at 110 °C, is due to the specific structure of this bilayer, which depends dramatically on the cure temperature of the first layer. From HREELS results under the conditions of an impact mechanism, it is shown that the surface density of NH₂ groups (which react with the epoxy groups of rubber and provide the adhesion of the whole system) is much higher when the γ-MPS layer is cured at 110 °C instead of 70 °C or room temperature. This high NH₂ group surface density is also confirmed by wettability measurements, which indicate a marked increase in the basic component of the surface energy at 110 °C. An IRRAS study of the γ-MPS layer deposited on zinc shows that up to 70 °C hydrolysis of the SiOCH₃ groups is poor, and becomes effective only after the zinc/γ-MPS layer is dipped in the basic APS solution. This makes the penetration of APS molecules across the γ-MPS layer easier and, consequently, amino groups can interact with zinc. Therefore, they are unavailable for a reaction with epoxy groups. In contrast, when the γ-MPS layer is cured at 110 °C or higher, hydrolysis of its SiOCH₃ groups begins and, simultaneously, lateral cross-linking occurs between SiOH groups. Under these conditions, penetration of the γ-MPS layer by APS molecules is hindered and lateral mixed cross-linking occurs at the interface γ-MPS/APS via the SiOH groups. This entails a greater density of pendant amino groups directed towards the surface, which enhances the practical adhesion of rubber to zinc.     

ITO films on glass substrate by sol–gel technique: synthesis,characterization and optical properties

The present paper extensively demonstrates synthesis, characterization and optical properties of semiconductor indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films on glass substrate using sol–gel technique for gas sensor applications. Turbidity, pH values, wettability and rheological properties of the prepared solutions were measured to determine solution characteristics by turbidimeter, pH meter, contact angle goniometer and rheometer machines prior to coating process. Thermal, structural, microstructural, mechanical and optical properties of the coatings were characterized by differential thermal analysis–thermogravimetry (DTA/TG), fourier transform infrarared, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, scratch tester, refractometer and spectrophotometer. Four different solutions were prepared by changing solvent concentration. Turbidity, pH, contact angle and viscosity values of the solutions were convenient for coating process. Glass substrates were coated using the solutions of InCl₃, SnCl₂, methanol and glacial acetic acid. The obtained gel films were dried at 300 °C for 10 min and subsequently heat-treated at 500 °C for 10 min in air. The oxide thin films were annealed at 600 °C for 60 min in air. DTA/TG results revealed that endothermic and exothermic reactions are observed at temperature between 70 and 560 °C due to solvent removal, combustion of carbon based materials and oxidation of Sn and In. The spectrum of ITO precursor film annealed at 500–600 °C shows an absence of absorption bands corresponding to organics and hydroxyls. In₂Sn₂O_7−x phase was dominantly found as well as SnO₂ with low intensity from XRD patterns. It was found that surface morphologies of the film change from coating island with homogeneous structures to regular surface and thinner film structures with increasing solvent concentration. The films prepared from the solutions with 8 mL methanol have better adhesion strength to the glass substrate among other coatings. Refractive index, thickness and band gap of ITO thin films were determined to be 1.3171, 0.625 μm and 3.67, respectively.     

Preparation and in vitro characterization of aerosol-deposited hydroxyapatite coatings with different surface roughnesses

Hydroxyapatite (HA) coatings with different surface roughnesses were deposited on a Ti substrate via aerosol deposition (AD). The effect of the surface roughness on the cellular response to the coating was investigated. The surface roughness was controlled by manipulating the particle size distribution of the raw powder used for deposition and by varying the coating thickness. The coatings obtained from the 1100 °C-heated powder exhibited relatively smooth surfaces, whereas those fabricated using the 1050 °C-heated powder had network-structured rough surfaces with large surface areas and were superior in terms of their adhesion strengths and in vitro cell responses. The surface roughness (R_a) values of the coatings fabricated using the 1050 °C-heated powder increased from approximately 0.65 to 1.03 μm as the coating thickness increased to 10 μm. The coatings with a rough surface had good adhesion to the Ti substrate, exhibiting high adhesion strengths ranging from 37.6 to 29.5 MPa, depending on the coating thickness. The optimum biological performance was observed for the 5 μm-thick HA coating with an intermediate surface roughness value of 0.82 μm.     

Adhesion-induced instabilities in elastic and elastic-plastic contacts during single and repetitive normal loading

Adhesive interaction in spherical contacts was modeled with the Lennard-Jones (L-J) potential. Elastic adhesive contact was analyzed by the equivalent system of a rigid sphere with reduced radius of curvature and a half-space of effective elastic modulus. The critical gap at the instant of abrupt surface contact (jump-in) and separation (jump-out) was determined from the deformed surface profile of the elastic half-space and geometrical relationships. A finite element model of a rigid sphere and an elastic-plastic half-space was used to examine elastic-plastic adhesive contact. Surface adhesion was modeled by nonlinear springs with a force-displacement relationship governed by the L-J potential. The evolution of the interfacial force and the central gap distance as well as the occurrence of jump-in and jump-out instabilities were investigated in terms of the Tabor parameter, plasticity parameter, and dimensionless maximum normal displacement. The force-displacement response due to several approach-retraction cycles was interpreted in the context of elastic and plastic shakedown behaviors using dimensionless parameters.     

Interfacial discontinuity relations for coupled multifield phenomena and their application to the modeling of thin interphases as imperfect interfaces

Interfacial continuity and discontinuity relations are needed in dealing with a variety of mechanical and physical phenomena in heterogeneous media. The present work consists of two parts. In the first part concerned with perfect interfaces, two orthogonal projection operators reflecting the interfacial continuity and discontinuity of the field variables of coupled mechanical and physical phenomena are introduced and some coordinate-free interfacial relations involving the surface decomposition of a generic linear constitutive law are deduced. In the second part dedicated to the derivation of a general imperfect interface model for coupled multifield phenomena by applying Taylor's expansion to a 3D curved thin interphase perfectly bonded to its two neighboring phases, the interfacial operators and relations given in the first part are used directly so as to render the derivation more direct and to write the final interfacial jump relations characterizing the model in a unified and compact way. The general imperfect interface model obtained in the present work includes as special cases all the relevant ones reported in the literature.