RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERFACE REGION OF EPOXY POLYMER - ALUMINUM COATING SYSTEMS IN AN AQUEOUS-MEDIUM

This paper reports a study of the process of reorganization of the epoxy polymer-aluminium interface during the storage of the coating systems in water. The storage in water first leads to the separation of the system components and then to the restoration of its integrity. As a result, the initial level of adhesion strength is reached or even exceeded. Of all the variable parameters (the solution composition and pH, the sign of the potential applied to the substrate surface, the method of its treatment, the type of hardener used and the conditions of deposition of oligomer from solution and the curing of the system, etc.), temperature was found to have the most significant effect on the rate of the restoration of the adhesion bonds in an aqueous medium. A mechanism of the process was proposed based on the sorption and calorimetric studies of the adhesion systems in an aqueous medium. This mechanism allows for the effect of the electrostatic interactions on the coalescence of the polymer and substrate surfaces with a thin water interlayer between them.