Improvement of adhesion strength of polyurethane and alkyd coatings by nano-silane using sol-gel method

Abstract

In present study, the adhesion strength of polyurethane and alkyd coatings on the poplar wood (Populus nigra) was improved by nano-silane coating using sol-gel method for outdoor application. For this purpose, the boards with dimensions of 15 × 10 × 2 mm were prepared according to EN 927-5. The surfaces of wood specimens were modified with Tetraethoxy‌silane (T) sol-gel material and then, solvent-borne alkyd (AS) and solvent-borne polyurethane (PS) coatings were applied. The coated samples were placed outdoor on a platform with a slope close to Karaj latitude (36̊) for 8 months according to ISO 877 standard. In order to characterize the quality of the coatings, colorimetric, tensile adhesion (Pull off), scratch adhesion (Cross cut) and ATR-FTIR tests were performed before and after weathering. The ATR-FTIR analysis demonstrated that the wood surface was covered with silicon oxides (SiO2) attached to hydrocarbon chains. As a result of surface wood modification by sol-gel, the color and adhesion strength of polyurethane and alkyd coatings were less affected by weathering. The highest tensile and scratch adhesions were found for the combined sol-gel and polyurethane coatings.

Keywords

• sol-gel
• alkyd and polyurethane coating
• Adhesion
• weathering