Co-condensation silicone coating: Improved adhesion and solvent resistance
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Co-condensation silicone coating significantly improves adhesion and solvent resistance through molecular structure design. Its core mechanism lies in the chemical bonding between silicone segments and organic resins. The following analysis is carried out from three aspects: mechanism of action, performance optimization and application practice:
1. Adhesion improvement mechanism
Chemical bonding effect
The co-condensation process allows silicone monomers (such as vinyl trimethoxysilane) to react with active groups (such as hydroxyl groups) of organic resins such as alkyd resins and polyesters to form block copolymers connected by Si-O-C bonds. This structure forms a chemical anchor at the interface between the coating and the substrate (metal, ceramic, etc.):
Inorganic end: The silanol group (Si-OH) after silane hydrolysis condenses with the hydroxyl group on the surface of the substrate to form a Si-O-M (M is metal/ceramic) covalent bond;
Organic end: Functional groups such as amino and epoxy groups cross-link with the resin to enhance the cohesion of the coating.
For example, the polycondensation of hydroxyl-terminated alkyd prepolymer and silicone prepolymer can improve the adhesion of varnish by 40%.
Surface energy regulation and wettability optimization
The silicone chain segments migrate to the coating-substrate interface, reducing the surface tension to 22-25 mN/m (lower than most substrates), significantly improving the wettability of the coating to metals and plastics, eliminating shrinkage holes, and promoting molecular-level contact78. Experiments show that the addition of aminosilane additives can increase the adhesion strength of the coating on aluminum from 2MPa to more than 8MPa.
Thermal stress buffering capacity
The flexibility of the silicone chain segments (glass transition temperature increased by 15-20℃1) can absorb the stress generated by the thermal expansion and contraction of the substrate, preventing the coating from cracking and falling off at high temperatures. After 20 thermal shock cycles at 300℃, the adhesion retention rate of the modified coating still exceeded 90%.
2. Mechanism of improving solvent resistance
Strengthening cross-linking density
The highly cross-linked network formed by co-condensation (such as (A-B)n type block copolymer 1) hinders the penetration of solvent molecules:
Si-O-Si main chain : bond energy up to 452 kJ/mol, resistant to chemical corrosion;
Dense shielding layer : silicone segments are oriented on the coating surface to form a low surface energy barrier .
The modified coating only swells slightly after being immersed in 5% NaOH solution for 100 hours .
Organic-inorganic synergistic protection
Filler enhancement : Nano-alumina (Al₂O₃) and micaceous iron oxide synergistically fill micropores to make the solvent penetration path tortuous. The salt spray resistance of the coating containing 30% filler can reach 3000 hours ;
Phenyl modification : The introduction of phenyl siloxane (phenyl content >40%) can improve the solvent resistance stability, and the coating remains intact at 500°C .
Application of solvent-resistant additives
Adding fluorinated silicone (such as perfluorooctyltriethoxysilane) can further reduce the polarity of the coating, making the surface energy <15 mN/m, and increasing the tolerance to solvents such as gasoline and xylene by 3 times.