Adhesion and film structure of cyanurates on solids

Cyanurates possess a promising potential as adhesives in high-tech applications. In this study, the film forming behaviour and the adhesion is considered for a Bisphenol A dicyanate (DCBA) prepolymer and for various organic model compounds containing cyanate or cyanurate (2,4,6-trioxy-1,3,5-triazine) groups. Ultrathin organic layers are formed by high vacuum evaporation (for model compounds), spin or dip coating (with the prepolymer) on silicon wafers or aluminium (e-beam evaporated onto wafers). Film formation is studied by various techniques of Scanning Force Microscopy (SFM). The molecular structure and the adhesive interactions with the substrates are investigated by electron spectroscopic methods (XPS, UPS) and by external reflection in spectroscopy. The paper presents the main experimental results for the as prepared samples. As expected, the film structure depends on the interplay of the substrate's topography and chemistry and on the shape and the chemical structure of the orga nic molecules. A preliminary model for the molecular mechanism of adhesive interaction is derived from the spectral findings.