Electrophoretic Deposition of Polyaryletheretherketone (PEEK) from a Matching Density Solvent Mixture

Abstract

nvestigating the electrodeposition properties of PEEK from solvents such as ethanol and acetone presents difficulties due to the higher density of the polymer particles relative to that of the solvent. The settling rate in unagitated baths is too rapid to obtain consistent deposits. Whole-bath or bulk agitation aimed at maintaining particle suspension can disturb electrodeposits due to eddies and other turbulent flow effects. To eliminate settling, mixtures of two solvents have been employed, the individual solvents having respectively lower and higher densities than PEEK. The proportions of the mixture are adjusted to be the same density as PEEK so that a colloid-like suspension of PEEK particles is possible. This enables the electrodeposition of PEEK to be studied without any significant gravitation or whole-bath agitation effects. Eliminating mechanical agitation of the suspension enables a study of the influence of target electrode movement alone on the rate and quality of electrodeposition. Note: The origin of this paper is in a project to establish if PEEK could be applied as a controllable conformal thin film onto a specific non-planar substrate geometry by using electrophoretic deposition. The paper describes only the development of a reliable methodology to investigate the feasibility of this project. The details of the project as a whole are outside the scope of the paper.

Aqueous electrophoretic deposition of bulk polyether ether ketone (PEEK)

“…The most studied is the field of ceramics; however, metals and polymers, among them PEEK, have also been successfully deposited. Literature reports on the electrophoretic deposition of PEEK to date are more or less limited to the anodic deposition of coatings from organic, predominantly ethanol (Corni et al, 2008) or acetone (Hope, 2012), suspensions, mainly due to the hydrophobic nature of PEEK. Electrophoretic deposition from commercially available aqueous based suspensions (Zalinska et al, 2014) was reported for the formation of thin coatings on multilayer multifilar helix antennas.…”

Suspension Characteristics and Electrophoretic Deposition ofp-Type Bi2Te3Films for Thermoelectric Applications

“…Although the above-mentioned parameters play an important role in the characteristics of the deposited EPD coating, the quality of the finished coating is influenced by other important factors, such as the role of impurities, 24,36,37 preparation and any aging of the suspension, 38,39 the environmental effects 40 as well as the manner of electrode preparation. 41,42 In addition, the results of specific materials dispersed in specific solvents and additives cannot be generalized to other materials, solvents or additives. 43 Therefore, in order to investigate the possibilities of EPD with a new material and discover its proper solvent-additive systems, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of the EPD process.…”