Investigating the crosslinking effects on surface characteristics of vinyltrimethoxysilane‐grafted moisture‐cured low‐density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate blend

Abstract

In this article, the adhesion attributed characteristics of vinyltrimethoxysilane‐grafted moisture‐cured low‐density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate (VTMS‐grafted LDPE/EVA) blend have been investigated before, during, and after crosslinking process. Characterization of the changes due to the moisture‐induced crosslinking has been carried out as a function of vapor exposure (crosslinking) duration. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used for identification of compounds based on functional groups and also for identification of any modification in the chemical structure of the compounds. In addition, contact angle measurement was performed to calculate the surface energy and its components. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were utilized to study the surface morphology changes. The results demonstrated that the moisture‐induced crosslinking was not causing significant changes in roughness parameters and surface energy values of the samples after crosslinking. For instance, the Ra parameter, which shows the arithmetic average height of the surface, changed from 278 nm to 280 nm and the surface free energy decreased from 30.90 to 27.63 mJ/m2 after 16 hours of vapor exposure. However, surface relative elastic modulus approximately doubled, indicating a stiffer surface. The findings confirmed that the adhesion‐related surface properties of the VTMS‐grafted LDPE/EVA blend were not affected impressively by the crosslinking. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47147.

Computational analysis of atomic binding energy for organosilicon‐ low‐density polyethylene‐coated silica embedded in polyvinylidene fluoride composite membrane for membrane gas absorption

“…On the other hand, it is easy to detect the LDPE coat over the f‐SiNP by the absorption bands at 2850 and 2915 cm −1 appearing in all the LDPE/f‐SiNP spectra of Figure 3D, F, and H. Since these two frequency bands represent the symmetric and asymmetric stretching vibration of –CH 2 in LDPE, 38 it is proved that the LDPE coating has surrounded the surface of f‐SiNP.…”

Melt‐reprocessablelinear low‐density polyethylene/cyclic olefin copolymerblends with low dielectric constant and low thermal expansion

“…Low‐density PE was later replaced by cross‐linked PE due to its improved properties. Cross‐linked PE exhibits better resistance to water treeing, better environmental stress cracking resistance, resistance to higher temperatures, and especially greater dimensional stability, all improvements over uncross‐linked PE 14–20 . However, crosslinking of thermoplastics alters the materials to those that no longer melt and lose melt processability or renewability.…”

“…Crosslinked PE exhibits better resistance to water treeing, better environmental stress cracking resistance, resistance to higher temperatures, and especially greater dimensional stability, all improvements over uncross-linked PE. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20] However, crosslinking of thermoplastics alters the materials to those that no longer melt and lose melt processability or renewability. Furthermore, improving the dielectric properties and dimensional stability of polymers by introducing inorganic fillers is also a commonly used strategy, considering their low CTE and abundance.…”