Silanes for Easy to Clean Surfaces and Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics

S.Giessler, P.K. Jenkner

Organofunctional alkoxysilanes have a broad range of applications as adhesion promoters, crosslinkers,
drying agents and surface modifiers. Due to the silane structure different effects can be obtained in application processes, two of these related to glass are explained in this paper.

The excellent material properties of glass fibre reinforced plastics are determined by the size, which
contains the essential silane adhesion promoter. In flexural strength tests of epoxy pultrusion rods an oligomeric N-Vinylbenzyl-N´-aminoethyl-3- aminopropylpolysiloxane performed best. The excellent film forming properties of this oligomer induce defect free, homogeneous and 170 nm thick films improving the moisture stability of the composite material.

The versatility of silanes is displayed in the results with fluoroalkylsilanes (FAS). FAS form nanometer thin waterrepellent films with properties, which are contrary to adhesion promotion. The resulting low-energy surfaces are characterised by easy to clean, antigraffiti and anti-fouling properties. Tests verifying the abrasion resistance, weatherability and boiling test behaviour showed that the FAS fi lms are long-term durable. Remarkable good UV and chemical stability is obtained, which is indicated by contact angles greater than 100º.

Full-Text Article [107 KB]