The Adhesion of Polymers: Relations Between Properties of Polymer Chains and Interface Toughness

A review is presented of the adhesion between polymers with particular emphasis on the processes that occur during failure at the level of polymer chains and how these processes relate to the macroscopic interface toughness. The same processes at the chain level, pull-out and scission, occur in both glassy polymers and elastomers, but the two classes of material are considered separately because their deformation processes around a crack tip are so different. Emphasis is placed on the work in which the author has participated and so the review makes no attempt to be an unbiased survey of the field.