Unified Theory and Practice: Polymer Adhesion, X-Ray Diffraction, and X-Ray Florescence

There are seven adhesion theories scattered in the literature. Each explains adhesion strength loosely in words and figures. The unified theory of polymer adhesion derives a mathematical equation linking bond length, bond energy and bond strength (lb/in 2 ). It unifies and clarifies prior insights into a coherent concept. A set of guidelines is compiled on the effects of functional groups, solvent blends, pigments and filler, adhesion promotion, and the causes of adhesion loss.

Due to the complex matrix effects, the quantitative XRD & XRF analyses of mixtures require calibration lines from standard, hence tedious and time-consuming. New insights reveal that both the matrix effects and calibration lines can be eliminated mathematically. A decoding formula applies to both XRD & XRF. One XRD or XRF scan quantifies the chemical elements or compounds in any mixture. The unified procedure reduces about 80% of work current practice with a precision of ± 5% or better.

About the Author

Frank H. Chung, PhD, is a former Senior Scientist at Sherwin-Williams Co. and Vice President of R&D at Marson Corporation. Dr. Chung received his PhD degree (1968) in physical chemistry from Kent State University, Ohio. He did postdoctoral studies at MIT, IIT and the Lehigh University.

Dr. Chung formulated the unified theories on the polymer adhesion and on the XRD & XRF analyses of mixtures. The United Nations sent him to Beijing, China, as tour speaker (1985). He was invited speaker at British Crystallographic Association (1986) and International Union of Crystallography (1987 and 1993).

Dr. Chung is the author of three books and some 40 professional papers in XRD, XRF, polymer adhesion, latex and coating technology. Dr. Chung and Prof. Smith edited Industrial Applications of X-ray Diffraction, Marcel Dekker, New York (2000), a tome of over 1,000 pages, which has been selected by MIT as a textbook.