High Resolution Optical Interference Measurements of Changes in Bond-Line Thickness—A Review

A novel moire optical interference method, originally developed¹ to measure the swelling displacement normal to the plane of a simple butt joint during water uptake at the joint edge, was subsequently used to investigate the unexpected occurrence of shrinkage and, at the same time, swelling during exposure to organic solvents. In later experiments, synergistic displacement fields generated during simultaneous exposure to water and organic solvents were studied. The same method has also been used to investigate the origin of adhesion failures at copper plated-through holes in thermally cycled multi-layer circuit boards.

The method employs a thin glass cover slip as one adherend. Changes in bondline thickness flex the cover slip thereby changing the gap between the latter and a nearby optical flat. By using monochromatic light to illuminate the specimen, interference between incident and reflected light is achieved. The small displacements of individual fringes associated with changes in gap size are used to generate moire patterns which bear a 1:1 relationship to the local changes in bondline thickness. Application of thin plate elasticity theory to the flexing of the cover slip yields the stress acting normal to the joint. The magnitude of this normal stress is strongly inhomogeneous, oscillating in sign and reaching compressive values as high as 50MNm^?2 for water uptake by a simple butt joint, and exceeding the yield strength of oxygen-free high conductivity copper (1MNm^?2) for the thermal expansion that accompanies simulated soldering of a multi-layer circuit board.

Attention is drawn to the high resolution achievable with the method. Changes in bond-line thickness of the order of Δ/10, where Δ is the wavelength of the light giving rise to the interference pattern, are readily resolved. It is pointed out that the method may well be sufficiently sensitive to detect the effects of different physical properties (thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity) of adherend surface on the nature of the cured adhesive and hence on the mechanical behaviour of the bond-line.     

13C NMR study of presence of uron structures in amino adhesives and relation with wood‐based panels performance

The chemical structure of amino adhesives produced by the strongly acid process was investigated by ¹³C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. This technique allowed the identification of functional groups and its quantitative determination. Concentration of cyclic polymeric structures (urons) was shown to be related with adhesive performance and with particleboard physico‐mechanical properties and formaldehyde content. Higher urons concentration presented lower viscosity and reactivity. Particleboards produced with resins with lower urons concentration presented lower formaldehyde content, but also lower internal bond strength. Wood‐based panels produced fulfilled E1 class requirements for formaldehyde emissions, indicating that strongly acid process is an alternative to the conventional alkaline–acid process. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 4500–4507, 2013     

Modification of wheat gluten with citric acid to produce superabsorbent materials

Wheat gluten was reacted with citric acid to produce natural superabsorbent materials able to absorb up to 78 times its weight in water. The properties of the modified gluten samples were characterized using Fourier Transform Infra‐red (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and water uptake. The reaction between gluten and citric acid was examined for gluten : citric acid ratios of 0.38 : 1 to 0.75 : 1 at temperatures from 100 to 130°C. More citric acid reacted for samples containing higher citric acid concentrations and at higher temperatures. FTIR analyses indicated the presence of carboxylate groups on the modified gluten samples, which resulted in modified samples having higher water uptake values than neat gluten. The sample with a gluten:citric acid ratio of 0.5 : 1 and reaction temperature of 120°C had the largest water uptake value. Also, all modified gluten samples had lower thermal stability than neat gluten. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013