Effect of surface modifications and environment on the interfacial adhesion of polymer/aluminum alloy

This work investigates the influence of surface modifications and environmental conditions on the interfacial adhesion of epoxy resin films on a 6016 aluminum alloy, as measured by peeling experiments. The alloy surfaces were pretreated with an etching solution, and then modified, respectively, with aminopropyl silane solution, aminopropyl phosphonate solution, and hexamethyldisiloxane plasma. The modified surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy and their roughness was quantified by a fractal index. The peeling experiments show that the interfacial adhesion of epoxy on the aluminum alloy mainly results from the chemical and mechanical characteristics of the material surface. Environmental factors such as humidity can also weaken interfacial adhesion.