Electrically Induced Debonding of Adhesives

Abstract: Electrically induced adhesive debonding is a process where an adhesive can be debonded at command with help of an applied voltage. To make this process function, the adhesive is  bonded between two metal substrates. In this study an epoxy adhesive is adhered between two aluminium foils forming a laminate structure. The adhesive is made ionically conductive by an addition of an ionic liquid before the curing. This arrangement forms an electrochemical cell, where the metal substrates act as the electrodes while the ionically conductive adhesive acts as the electrolyte. When a voltage is applied over the laminate, a current passes due to electrochemical reactions at the electrode interfaces and ionic transport in the adhesive. This type of material can potentially be used in a wide range of applications. This includes making adhesive joints in automotives to both reduce the total weight but also to simplify the disassembly after end-of-life, enabling an inexpensive recycling process. Another potenital use for debondable adhesives is within consumer packaging. Here it could be possible to pack and transport goods using less packaging material as well as making the handling easier.  The aim of this study was to increase the understanding about the processes leading to debonding. This knowledge is important in the development of new types of debonding adhesives. In this study, the commercial laminate Sinuate® was used as a model system. The experiments were focused on the electrochemical behavior and were performed mainly using galvanostatic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Information about the chemistry of debonding was collected with techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mass spectrometry (MS) and Raman spectroscopy. The debonding did always take place at the anodic interface, separating the adhesive and the anode aluminium foil. It was found that the total cell resistance increased drastically during polarization, and that essentially all of this increase originated within the anodic half of the laminate. Examining the resistance behavior with EIS, it was found that the increase in total resistance was reversible. The anodic  electrochemical reaction during polarization was determined to consist mainly of an oxidation of aluminium, while the major reaction at the cathodic interface was reduction of water into hydrogen. The debonding process, which took place at the anodic interface, could be related to reaction products formed in the polarization process. These products grew out from the anodic aluminium surface into the adhesive. A debonding mechanism is proposed where these products induce an increase in the adhesive volume, causing stresses at the interface which ultimately result in debonding.