The adsorption of methyl methacrylate and vinyl acetate polymers on α-quartz surface: A molecular dynamics study

Abstract

The molecular dynamics simulation was used to investigate the adsorption of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polyvinyl acetate (PVA), the commonly used surface coating materials, on α-quartz surface. The objective is to understand the interactions between quartz surface and polymers. The results clearly show adsorption of both polymers onto the quartz surface. Carbonyl group plays a significant role in the adsorption process. The adsorption energies of PMMA and PVA on α-quartz surface did not show significant difference, however, more hydrogen bonds were observed on the PVA/quartz system than PMMA/quartz. These observations might offer some insights on the polymer–quartz adhesion and its failure mechanism.