ADHESION BETWEEN POLYMERS

This paper is concerned with recent work that relates to the adhesion between nonreacting polymers. Advances in the understanding of cracks at bimaterial interfaces are considered, with particular emphasis on their implications in the interpretation of adhesion tests. An interpretation of the peel and blister tests is then discussed. Consideration is given to mechanisms of polymer failure as they relate to adhesion, with an emphasis on the distinctions between the properties of glassy and elastomeric materials. Polymer self-adhesion and its relation to interdiffusion are reviewed and compared with the adhesion of miscible polymers. In considering the adhesion between immiscible polymers, emphasis is given to the use of copolymers as coupling agents at the interface.