Laser surface modification of poly(etheretherketone) to enhance surface free energy, wettability and adhesion

Enhancement of the surface wettability and surface free energy of thermoplastic materials is an effective way of improving their adhesion and consequently the adhesive joint strength. A nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser was selected in this work to provide energetic treatment of PEEK surfaces, in order to investigate its effectiveness in increasing the performance of lap shear adhesive joints. The laser was used to irradiate the PEEK, by rastering a spot of ca. 1 mm diameter across a large area. The resulting surfaces were characterised using single lap shear testing, confocal laser scanning microscopy, contact angle analysis, FT-IR, XPS and ToF-SIMS. Single lap shear testing of PEEK joints showed that the strength of adhesively bonded joints is greatly improved by laser treatment, up to 13 times that of untreated PEEK. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that the higher laser power intensities (≥107 W mm−2) disrupted the surface of the PEEK more than the lower laser power intensities (<107 W mm−2), but also showed that, as expected, only some of the surface is treated by the laser. Contact angle analysis showed a decrease in water contact angle with increasing laser power intensity, and the derived surface free energy increased accordingly. FT-IR in the specular reflectance mode showed no discernible change but XPS and ToF-SIMS did, suggesting that laser treatment only affects the near surface at the extremity of the 1-2 μm sampling depth. XPS showed a decrease in the carbon/oxygen ratio of PEEK on treatment, indicating that oxygen-containing functional groups were being created at the surface. XPS also suggested a cleaning mechanism at a laser intensity of 7.83×106 W mm−2, progressing to surface modification from a laser intensity of 107 W mm−2 and above. ToF-SIMS confirmed that laser treatment cleans the surface of PEEK of extraneous material.