Abstract
Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) film is dip coated onto piranha and air-plasma treated silicon substrates, to study the effect of surface pre-treatment on the adhesion strength and the tribological properties of the film. After the pre-treatment, water contact angle measurements were conducted and the surface free energy of the Si substrate was calculated. It is observed that the air-plasma pre-treatment reduced the water contact angle (4.3°) considerably when compared to that of the piranha pre-treatment (21.3°), which resulted in an increase of the surface free energy of the Si substrate. Scratch tests were conducted for studying the adhesion property of UHMWPE films coated onto Si substrate. It was found that the plasma pre-treatment enhanced adhesion between the UHMWPE film and the Si substrate by more than two times when compared to the piranha pre-treatment. Wear tests were conducted to study the effects of pre-treatments on the tribological properties of the UHMWPE film. UHMWPE film coated onto plasma pre-treated Si showed a wear life of about 50 000 cycles (25 times higher) as compared to that of 2000 cycles when it was coated onto piranha pre-treated Si, tested at a normal load of 1 N and a rotational speed of 200 rpm.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2557-2570 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 15-16 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Oct 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This article is based on research work supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation under CRP Award no. NRF-CRP 2-2007-04.
Keywords
- Air-plasma treatment
- UHMWPE film
- wear durability of Si
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
- Mechanics of Materials
- Surfaces and Interfaces
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Materials Chemistry