| In this study, the working mechanisms of aminosilane coupling agent at epoxy/aluminum interface were studied by using in-situ Ellipsometry. Reflection-Absorption Infrared Spectroscopy (RAIR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were also used as complementary techniques.; The epoxy-coated aluminum samples with and without aminopropyltriethoxy silane (APS) primer were studied. The epoxy coating was spinn-coated on aluminum surface from diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and triethylenetetra amine (TETA) solutions. The silane primer film was deposited on aluminum surface from APS aqueous solutions.; The results showed that the interface debonding mechanism at the non-primed epoxy/aluminum interface was very different to the APS-primed interface. The debonding mechanism of the non-primed interface was attributed to the displacement of epoxy film from the aluminum surface by water. While corrosion-induced delamination was the main debonding mechanism at the APS-primed epoxy/aluminum interface. |
