Fiber Implantation for Interfacial Joining of Polymer to Metal

We report an assembly concept of interfacial anchoring, fiber implantation into metal for the reliable joining of polymers on metal substrates via injection molding. Milled glass fibers were implanted into an aluminum surface via simultaneous sand-blasting and laser irradiation. The aluminum substrate was set on a mold, and the melting polymer was injected on top of the aluminum. The molded polymer successfully bonded to the aluminum surface via the mechanical anchoring of milled fibers at the metal/polymer interface. These results demonstrate that this concept can be applied to various polymers and metals to enhance their interfacial characteristics, such as shear strength.