Effect of aging on interfacial adhesion between polyester and carbon-based particles: A classical molecular dynamics study

This study uses classical molecular dynamics to examine how aging (relaxation) of functionalized polyester surfaces effects their adhesion to carbon particles. We show that relaxation leads to significantly increased adhesion compared to the rigid polymers. Functionalization of polyester surfaces followed by aging results in negligible reductions in adhesion to carbon compared to the unmodified polyester and, in some cases, leads to slight increases in interfacial adhesion. These results indicate that for surface modification to be effective, i.e., reduce interfacial adhesion with carbon, the polyester surfaces need to maintain both the rigidity and atomic roughness.