Self-Bonding Thermoplastic Elastomer Adhesion Promoter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thermoplastic elastomers exhibit poor adhesion to various substrates, resulting in low peel strengths that cannot withstand normal use, primarily due to poor wetting and lack of interactions between the polymer and substrate.
Innovation Solution
The use of amine-containing silsesquioxane or amine-containing alkyltrialkoxysilane as an in-situ adhesion promoter, combined with a thermoplastic elastomer, to create self-bonding thermoplastic elastomers that can be mixed and extruded or coated onto substrates, forming a strong bond between substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional thermoplastic elastomers are used, then processing is simple and cost-effective, but adhesion to substrates is poor with peel strengths of only 0.5 to 4.0 pli
Solution Approach 1:
An adhesion promoter is introduced as an intermediary substance between the thermoplastic elastomer and the substrate. The adhesion promoter contains functional groups that interact with both the polymer and substrate surfaces, creating a bridging effect that significantly improves adhesion strength while maintaining relative simplicity in the overall composition
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite material system consisting of the thermoplastic elastomer base polymer combined with adhesion promoter additives. This composite approach allows the material to exhibit both the desirable processing characteristics of the base polymer and the enhanced adhesion properties provided by the adhesion promoter components
2Reliability
If the polymer and substrate are used without modification, then the system is simple, but wetting and interactions between surface and polymer are poor
Solution Approach 1:
The chemical parameters of the polymer system are modified by incorporating adhesion promoters with specific functional groups. This changes the surface chemistry and interaction parameters of the material, enabling reliable bonding to substrates while maintaining straightforward processing procedures
3Strength
If thermoplastic elastomers are applied to substrates, then the application process is straightforward, but the bond strength cannot withstand normal use
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than requiring large quantities of adhesion promoter, the invention uses small, optimized amounts of highly effective adhesion promoter material. This partial action approach achieves sufficient bond strength for normal use conditions without excessive additive content that would complicate the composition
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution achieves improved bond strengths greater than 20 ppi, significantly enhancing the adhesion and durability of thermoplastic elastomers on various substrates, including polymeric and metal surfaces, with cohesive failure occurring before bond failure, and providing high peel strength, elongation-at-break, tensile strength, and tear resistance.
Implementation Method 1
amine-containing silsesquoxane, or an amine-containing siloxane or an amine-containing alkyltrialkoxysilane and a thermoplastic elastomer as well as methods of preparation that are useful as self-bonding thermoplastic elastomers for various substrates
Implementation Method 2
the problem can be attributed to poor wetting of the substrate with the polymer or a lack of interactions between the surface and the polymer
Data Source
AI summary
The invention describes compositions that include amine-containing silsesquioxane or an amine-containing alkyltrialkoxysilane and a thermoplastic elastomer as well as methods of preparation of the compositions that are useful as self-bonding adhesives for various substrates.