SBIR Phase I: Surface Engineering of Metals with Plasma Polymers

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将进行研究，以取代目前对环境有害的金属预处理工艺与环境友好的过程。 在该方法中，金属表面被蚀刻，然后涂覆有等离子体聚合SiO2的亚微米膜。目前用于涂漆和粘合的金属预处理工艺性能良好，但产生大量废物，包括六价铬和各种无机酸。为了获得上级当前最先进的湿化学表面处理的性能，等离子体聚合膜的表面化学和形态需要针对与粘合剂的特定相互作用进行定制。将确定变量的影响，包括基板化学，单体化学和离子动能等离子体聚合物的表面化学和形态。然后，将确定所得到的结构对粘接接头的强度和耐久性的影响。通过将原位分析技术与粘合剂样品的加速老化和机械测试相结合，将开发和商业化一种基于等离子体聚合的上级、环境友好的工艺。这些底漆将具有通过控制沉积条件和/或等离子体聚合物表面的化学衍生化而定制为粘合剂化学的充分理解的形态和表面组成。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will conduct research to replace current environmentally damaging metal pretreatment processes with an environmentally benign process. In the approach the metal surface is etched then coated with a sub-micron film of plasma polymerized SiO2. Current metal pretreatment processes for painting and adhesive bonding perform well, but generate tremendous volumes of wastes, including hexavalent chromium and various inorganic acids. To obtain performance superior to the current state-of-the-art wet chemical surface treatments, the surface chemistry and morphology of the plasma polymerized films need to be tailored for specific interactions with the adhesive. Effects of variables including substrate chemistry, monomer chemistry, and ion kinetic energy on surface chemistry and morphology of plasma polymers will be determined. Then, the effect of the resulting structure on the strength and durability of adhesive joints will be determined. By combining in-situ analytical techniques with accelerated aging and mechanical testing of adhesive specimens, a superior, environmentally benign process based on plasma polymerization will be developed and commercialized. These primers will have well understood morphologies and surface compositions tailored to the adhesive chemistry through control of the deposition conditions and/or chemical derivitization of the plasma polymer surface.