E. Kientz et al., ADHESION OF LATEX FILMS .1. POLY(2-ETHYL-HEXYL METHACRYLATE) ON GLASS, Journal of adhesion science and technology, 10(8), 1996, pp. 745-759
The adhesion properties of latex films containing various kinds of sur
factants were studied on glass by the use of a 180 degrees peel test.
The latex polymer was poly(2-ethyl hexyl methacrylate) (P2EHMA). The s
urfactants were sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), hexadecyl trimethylammon
ium bromide (HTAB), hexadecyl pyridinium chloride (HPCl), and ethoxyla
ted nonyl phenol containing 10 ethoxy groups (NP10). Peel energy versu
s surfactant concentration curves were established. At medium and high
peel rates (15-700 mm/min), these curves exhibit a specific shape for
each surfactant: a minimum for NP10, a maximum for SDS and HPCl, and
a plateau followed by a sharp increase for HTAB. In the case of HPCl-c
ontaining films, it was shown that the maximum tended to disappear whe
n the peel rate was decreased and at 'zero peel rate' there was no lon
ger a surfactant concentration effect on the peel energy. Analysis of
the failure surfaces after peeling by FTIR-ATR, XPS, and contact angle
measurements led to the conclusion that the locus of failure was also
independent of the surfactant concentration. Failure took place at th
e top of a surfactant layer located between the substrate and the late
x film. The conclusion is that surfactants strongly influence the adhe
sion properties of latex films, but in a complex way.