LOCALIZATION OF FAILURE OF GLASS ELASTOMER ADHESION DETERMINED BY INFRARED-SPECTROSCOPY

We show that it is possible using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to detect and study very small amounts of elastomer remaining on a glass substrate after breaking of an adhesion joint. The method can reveal the presence of residual polymer layers of thickness less than one nanometer. It is thus possible to determine precisely the location of the adhesion failure. In the case of peeling, we present three representative examples of (i) an interfacial failure, (ii) a cohesive failure of the elastomer and (iii) a failure in a weak boundary layer due to the migration of a polymer additive towards the interface.