Surface treatment with ultraviolet laser for adhesive bonding of polymeric materials

We demonstrated an efficient surface pretreatment with excimer laser at 193 nm, which could be successfully used as a surface preparation tool to improve the adhesion and mechanical properties of bonded polymer joints. The effect of the ultraviolet (UV) light can be used both as a method for increasing the specific surface area improving the mechanical adhesion and as a method for activating the polymer surface improving the physical adhesion. Mechanical tests and studies on the failure of bonded polycarbonate (PC) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) samples showed a significant increase in the quality of bonded connections by using pretreatment with UV laser. As a result of the studies, the bond strength of the PC samples was increased by about 32% using a PB437 UV curing adhesive. By using Loctite 9466 applied to PEEK samples, a strength increase of about 36% was achieved.