(589j) Effect of Surface Wettability on Interfacial Adhesion of Thermosetting Polymer Composites

The quality of interfaces between a polymer matrix and reinforcements significantly affects on the performance of the polymer composites. In this work, we investigated the relationship between surface wettability and interfacial fracture energy. A series of model functionalized surfaces was prepared using silane coupling agents with different organo-functionalities in order to alter surface wettability, then the effect of surface wettability on interfacial adhesion was evaluated. Surface energies and wettability were determined via contact angle analysis and 90° peel testing was used to evaluate the interfacial adhesion strength between a low glass transition temperature (T_g) urethane acrylate-based thermosetting polymer network and model surfaces. A correlation between surface wettability and interfacial adhesion was observed, which suggests a promising approach for the creation of novel polymer composites. However, this trend could not be predicted from construction of wettability envelopes and was only observable from direct measurement resin contact angle on the model substrates, possibly because the resin is a multicomponent chemistry. We plan to use this knowledge in the fabrication of additively manufactured composites.