Enhanced adhesion of epoxy-bonded steel surfaces using O2/Ar microwave plasma treatment

Steel surfaces have been modified using low pressure microwave plasma to enhance its adhesion with an epoxy adhesive. Optimization of the wettability of the surface was done using contact angle measurements for varying plasma parameters. Maximum wettability (19.9°) was obtained at 1000 W microwave power with 20 min of treatment time, −50 V sample bias and 1.67% O2/Ar gas flow rate ratio. Enhanced wettability of the steel surface was attributed to increased surface roughness and oxide deposition. Using atomic force microscopy, surface roughness was observed to increase from 64.4 nm for the untreated surface to 76.7 nm for the O2/Ar plasma treated surface. Deposition of oxides on the steel surface was also confirmed by the energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Moreover, the increase in the total surface energy to 53.2 mN/m for the O2 plasma treated steel surface supported the enhancement of its wettability, and hence, the adhesion with epoxy. Based on tensile test results, the adhesion strength of epoxy-bonded O2/Ar plasma treated surfaces at optimum settings was increased to 3816.0 N, which is significantly higher compared to 3038.3 N for the epoxy-bonded untreated surfaces.