Improvement of Bonding between Jewelry Crystals and Epoxy Adhesives

由于被连接的两种材料之间的边界，粘合材料有时会很复杂。表面污染、不正确的安装程序或仅仅是没有使用正确的粘合产品都可能导致粘合不良。此外，本发明还提供了一种方法，这种类型的粘合剂可能对一种材料很好，但对另一种材料可能不那么有效。这项研究的目的是确定一种粘合剂是否可以很好地用于所有类型的水晶珠宝，以及晶体和粘合剂是否需要独特的制备过程。这项由NSERC Engage Grant资助的研究将调查各种四种晶体类型上的市售粘合剂。在不同的条件下，如：在收到的晶体表面的污染，环氧-粘土胶粘剂的混合时间，加工时间和固化温度下，将评估胶粘剂的粘结强度。粘结的晶体还将经受温度波动（+35 ° C至-35 °C）以再现真实的应用并评估其粘结强度。通过采用优化技术，将确定最佳配方以获得最佳粘结强度。所选粘合剂的性能将使我们能够就其粘合性和晶体表面制备技术提出建议。预计这项研究将提供一种比以前的方法更快，更可靠的组装技术。一个创新的，独特的一步一步的解决方案/程序，以提供珠宝和环氧粘土粘合剂之间的高强度粘结将提供。

Adhesively bonding materials can be complex at times due to the boundary between the two materials beingjoined. Poor bonding can be caused by surface contaminations, improper installation procedures or simply notusing the right bonding product. In addition, it is possible that the type of adhesive works well for one materialbut may not be as effective for a different material.The objective of this study will determine if one adhesive can work well for all types of crystal jewelrysubmitted to different scenarios and if a unique preparation process for the crystals and adhesives are required.The research supported by this NSERC Engage Grant will investigate the use of a variety of commerciallyavailable adhesives on four crystal types. The adhesive bond strength will be evaluated under differentconditions such as: contaminates on the as-received crystal surfaces, epoxy-clay adhesive mixing time, workingtimes and curing temperature. The bonded crystals will also be subjected to temperature fluctuations (+35°C to-35°C) to reproduce real world applications and their bond strength assessed. By employing an optimizationtechnique, the best formulation will be determined for the best bond strength.The performance of the selected adhesives will enable recommendations to be made related to their adhesionability and crystal surface preparation technique. It is anticipated the research will provide a faster, morereliable assembling technique than the previous approach. An innovative, unique step-by-stepsolution/procedure to provide a high strength bond between jewelry and epoxy-clay adhesives will be provided.