Enhanced paint adhesion of puffed wood-based metal composites via surface treatment with silane coupling agent

ABSTRACT

Puffed wood-based metal composite (PWMC) is a lightweight metallic wood material with a high thermal conductivity, having a prospective application as wooden products. Coating with clear waterborne paints increases the grain visibility and prolongs color retention of PWMC, thus providing both decorative and protective functions. However, the poor film adhesion strength of clear waterborne paints limits their industrial wood processing applications. To obtain a better paint films performance, it is necessary to study the effect of silanization treatment on the PWMC’s surface wettability and chemical structures. In this paper, the surface free energy of the metal and wood areas of silane-treated PWMC (S-PWMC) respectively increased by 19.7% and 159.5%, indicating improved surface wettability. S-PWMC showed an improved paint film performance, with a hardness grade of H, paint film adhesion of level 0, and abrasion resistance of 0.04 g/100 r. The excellent paint film performance makes S-PWMC promising for use in wood furnishings.

KEYWORDS:

• Metallic wood
• clear waterborne paints
• surface silanization treatment
• paint film performance
• surface wettability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFD2200703) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32071705).