Physicochemical interactions between amorphous metal oxide and polymer in metal–polymer hybrid materials

Abstract

Laser–induced amorphous metal oxide is increasingly applied to enhancing interfacial bonding in metal–polymer hybrid materials. This work aims to explore physicochemical interactions between amorphous metal oxide and polymer to understand its bonding mechanism from the micro–nano scale. Scanning electron microscopy and X–ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to investigate the physicochemical properties of laser–induced amorphous aluminum oxides on aluminum alloy surfaces. A well–infiltrated hybrid layer of incompletely oxidized amorphous aluminum oxides and polymer at enhanced aluminum alloy–polymer interface was characterized using transmission electron microscopy. Subsequently, molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations were utilized to explore the physicochemical interaction process between amorphous aluminum oxides and polymers and its role at aluminum alloy–polymer interface. It was demonstrated that amorphous aluminum oxides generate strong electrostatic interactions with polymer, and ionic and ionic–covalent bonds are the main chemisorption under low reaction energy barrier, which reveals the origin of the favorable infiltration and high reactivity of amorphous aluminum oxides. Furthermore, the bonding mechanism of aluminum alloy–polymer interface is clarified based on the discovery of interfacial anchoring effect resulting from the physicochemical interaction between amorphous aluminum oxides and polymer.