Environmental Evaluation of Silanes as Adhesion Promoters for Organic Coatings

Abstract

In the literature of silane treatment there are not many studies about the deterioration of baths of silane and the possible treatments that could be used to reduce their polluting effects.

The purpose of this paper is to study how the silanes (1,2-Bis(triethoxysilyl)-ethane) (BTSE) and (γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane) (MPS) can be safely returned to the environment under certain conditions after they are used as adhesion promoters. There is a restriction on the level of pH, conductivity, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of waste waters by the European Union. Therefore, the two solutions were tested using permanganate to oxidize the silane under different pH levels to determine the most effective way to treat and decrease the COD level. Also, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) tests were performed to correlate with the species present after different times of aging.

KEYWORDS:

• 1,2-Bis(triethoxysilyl)-ethane (BTSE)
• Environmental issues
• γ-Methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPS)
• Silane

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the Ministry of the Environment (through project 136/PC08/3-11.2) for their financial support in this research project. They also wish to thank Fernando Pérez García, Nora Sadik, and Ashley Kim for their assistance in the research.

Notes

Presented in part at the 1st International Conference on Structural Adhesive Bonding (AB2011), Porto, Portugal, 7–8 July 2011.