{"id":2660,"date":"2017-01-26T09:24:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T09:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/best-practices-bonding-low-surface-energy-plastics\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T18:30:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:30:47","slug":"best-practices-bonding-low-surface-energy-plastics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/permabond.com\/pt-br\/best-practices-bonding-low-surface-energy-plastics\/","title":{"rendered":"Best practices for bonding low surface energy plastics."},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonding low surface energy plastics can be challenging. Many plastics are easy to bond, others, like polyolefins, can be difficult.\u00a0 Think of the reasons design engineers want to use polyolefin plastics:\u00a0 they are slick to the point of lubricating, scratch resistant, and chemically resistant.\u00a0 Well, there you have it in a nutshell \u2013 all the reasons that make polyolefins difficult for many adhesives to bond.<\/p>\n

Challenges of Bonding Polyolefins<\/h2>\n

Specialty adhesives have been formulated which provide very high strength adhesion to low surface energy plastics such as polypropylene and polyethylene and good strength on PTFE.\u00a0 Following is a review of some plastic adhesives as well as tricks of the trade to bond virtually anything.<\/p>\n

Understanding why some plastics are so difficult to bond will help you\u00a0optimize the surface and joint design.<\/p>\n

Surface Energy and its Effect on Adhesion<\/h3>\n

The surface energy of the plastic either allows or prevents wetting the surface.<\/p>\n

\"Surface<\/p>\n

Different forms of surface preparation can increase the surface energy, which increases wetting.<\/p>\n

\"Surface<\/p>\n

Historically, low surface energy plastics required surface treatment such as abrasion, flame, corona, plasma, chemical treatment, or primers before bonding.<\/p>\n

New specialty plastic adhesives are eliminating the need to pre-treat the plastic.\u00a0 It is always a good idea to start with a clean, dry surface \u2013 and ideally, follow plastic surface preparation guidelines. \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Permabond’s Polyolefin Primer and Cyanoacrylates for Bonding Plastics<\/h2>\n

One form of surface preparation is primer.\u00a0 Permabond\u2019s polyolefin primer is for use ONLY with cyanoacrylates.\u00a0 It will not increase the adhesion of other types of adhesives.\u00a0 Permabond cyanoacrylate and POP <\/a>form strong bonds to polyolefin and silicone.<\/p>\n

For many applications Permabond Polyolefin Primer and a cyanoacrylate bond these plastics very well.\u00a0 But are they the strongest adhesive?\u00a0 In shear strength, these plastic adhesives perform very well, and in many cases, the bond strength exceeds the strength of the plastic.\u00a0 However, cyanoacrylates aren\u2019t a fit for every application.\u00a0 If more strength, impact resistance, or water resistance is needed, two component 1:1 mixable structural acrylic polyolefin adhesive may be preferred.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"plastic<\/p>\n

Structural Acrylics for Polyolefins<\/h2>\n

Permabond’s structural acrylics for polyolefins are 1:1 mixable plastic adhesives that are applied either manually or via automated equipment.\u00a0 They do not require surface treatment to form strong bonds to polyolefins.\u00a0 The polypropylene lap shears to the left were bonded with Permabond TA4610.\u00a0 The adhesive bond is so strong that when pulled, the plastic stretches deforms, and fails before the bond.<\/p>\n

If you want even more strength \u2013 especially on PTFE, consider maximizing the joint design. Following are some options.<\/p>\n

\"joint<\/p>\n

Even more strength needed?\u00a0 Ok, let\u2019s get into the tricks.<\/p>\n

Adhesive Trick #1: Mechanical Lock<\/h2>\n

If bonding PTFE to another substrate \u2013 let\u2019s say steel \u2013 you can configure a joint such that the adhesive bonds and provides a mechanical lock.<\/p>\n

If you have two pieces of steel and want a piece of PTFE between them, consider a hole in the PTFE.\u00a0 This allows the adhesive to bond steel to steel while also bonding and holding the PTFE.<\/p>\n

\"bonding<\/p>\n

This trick works best when the PTFE is as thin as possible.\u00a0 Note a round hole may allow some twisting, so it\u2019s best to elongate or if possible add some edges.<\/p>\n

Adhesive Trick #2: Liquid Rivet Effect<\/h2>\n

What if you only need one piece of steel bonded to PTFE? The hole trick may still work providing enough adhesive comes through the hole and mushroom caps over the top of the PTFE.\u00a0 For very thick sections of PTFE ensure a high shear strength adhesive is used and consider a counter bore which can help to contain the adhesive neatly.\u00a0 This is a bit like using a liquid rivet which cures and bonds both surfaces as well as mechanically holding them.\u00a0 For joints that are only in shear consider a hook effect.\u00a0 For example, a notch in the PTFE will provide a good lock to the metal.<\/p>\n

\"joint<\/p>\n

Adhesive Trick #3: Coating Technique<\/h2>\n

Permabond structural acrylics for polyolefins bond well to a variety of other surfaces.\u00a0 If you are unlucky enough to find a substrate they don\u2019t bond well to \u2013 don\u2019t give up.\u00a0 Try my next trick.\u00a0 Use the structural acrylic adhesive for polyolefin on that surface and change the other.\u00a0 Joking guys!\u00a0 If you picked that substrate for a reason and don’t want to change it, no trouble! If you can\u2019t change the substrate, simply change the surface of that substrate \u2013 apply and cure a coating of an adhesive that bonds well to that substrate, then bond it with the structural acrylic for polyolefin.<\/p>\n

When in search of the strongest adhesive for plastic, consider not only the plastic adhesive but also the joint design, surface energy, type of stresses, and environmental resistance required.<\/p>\n

Contact Permabond technical support to discuss your application.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bonding low surface energy plastics can be challenging. Many plastics are easy to bond, others, like polyolefins, can be difficult.\u00a0 Think of the reasons design engineers want to use polyolefin plastics:\u00a0 they are slick to the point of lubricating, scratch resistant, and chemically resistant.\u00a0 Well, there you have it in a nutshell \u2013 all the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[633,629],"tags":[485,130],"class_list":["post-2660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bonding-plastic","category-material-specific-adhesives","tag-plastic-adhesive","tag-surface-energy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBest practices for bonding low surface energy plastics. -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bonding plastics \u2013 what is the strongest adhesive for bonding low surface energy plastics. 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Learn about Permabonds TA4600 series.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/pt-br\/best-practices-bonding-low-surface-energy-plastics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Permabond\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/permabondEA\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-26T09:24:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-08T18:30:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/permabond.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Surface-energy-1.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"209\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"146\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laurie Gibbons\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PermabondEA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PermabondEA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Escrito por\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laurie Gibbons\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. tempo de leitura\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutos\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Best practices for bonding low surface energy plastics. -","description":"Bonding plastics \u2013 what is the strongest adhesive for bonding low surface energy plastics. 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