Chemical sculpturing of Al micro-particles for polymer composites and universal polymer-polymer joints

摘要

This paper presents a practical method to produce Al micro-particles via anisotropic wet chemical etching with a particle surface structure perfectly suited for mechanical interlocking with polymers. This particle surface structure consists of a multitude of cuboid features forming step-like structures with hooks forming tight connections to various polymers. These composites formed from these sculptured Al micro-particles and medical-grade PDMS show a drastically increased Young's modulus as well as a 34% in-creased ultimate tensile strength compared to the pure PDMS. Additionally, the tight, adhesive-free joining of immiscible polymers via these sculptured Al micro-particles is presented exemplarily for POM/EVA and POM/LDPE.