Obtaining an adequate bond strength when bonding plastic-to-plastic substrates or plastic to dissimilar substrates is often a challenge for resin system. In general plastic surfaces demonstrates poor ‘wettability’ or the ability of a liquid to form a continuous film.
Its generic name PTFE and other polyethylene derivatives such as HDPE, LDPE, UHMW and olefinic-based plastics demonstrate poor liquid wettability due to its low surface energy. To create a viably bondable surface condition to these types of plastics, it must be surface treated by creating a superficial oxidized surface to increase its dynamic surface tension. Various types of physical treatment can be used to increase the surface energy of plastics, mostly through oxidation of the superficial layer.
