Improved adhesion at titanium surfaces via laser-induced surface oxidation and roughening

Commercial titanium was treated in ambient atmosphere using pulsed Nd:YAG (lambda = 1064 nm) laser irradiation. Repeated laser treatments induce a removal of surface contaminants as well as the formation of a nanostructured top layer exhibiting a large effective surface and nanometer roughness. The laser induced oxidation leads to the presence of a surface layer with strongly improved, hydrothermally stable adhesion when joined to a one-component, hot-curing epoxy-based adhesive. Changes in the material properties have been characterized with respect to the topography, the chemical composition and the crystal structure using SEM, cross-beam FIB, XPS and XRD analyses in order to correlate the adhesion behavior with the structural and chemical characteristics of the surface. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.