Polymeric Coating Adhesion: Understanding It, Measuring It, and Improving It

Lonny L. Wolgemuth

Specialty Coating Systems

7645 Woodland Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46278, USA

Tel: +1 317 244 1200  Fax: +1 317 240 2092
Email: LWolgemuth@scscoatings.com

Biography 

Lonny Wolgemuth is Medical Market Specialist for Specialty Coating Systems.  His responsibilities include expansion of SCS’ medical markets activities and new medical applications for Parylene conformal coatings.

Wolgemuth has been active in the medical device industry for over 35 years, with experience ranging from in-hospital clinical engineering to product management, market management and national technical support management for international medical device manufacturers in patient monitoring, wound care and patient temperature management.  He has been active in technical medical device standards writing committees for patient temperature management devices, and has testified before FDA device classification panels (tcPO2 monitoring devices).

Wolgemuth obtained his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree at Manchester College and Purdue University in Indiana, and holds a Master in Business Administration degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, New York.

Specialty Coating Systems is the industry leader in providing Parylene equipment and coating solutions. SCS coats medical devices … from stents, ICDs, pacemakers and neurostimulators to cochlear and ocular implants to o-rings, valves and tracheostomy tubes in Class 5, 6 and 7 cleanrooms. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, SCS has 9 coating centers around the world to meet medical device manufacturers’ global presence.

Abstract

Adhesion of polymeric coatings, including Parylene, to the target substrate surface is a critical determinant of the coatings’ ultimate effectiveness. Without adequate adhesion, fluids or moisture can pass through or under the coating and accumulate on the substrate surface, causing a variety of problems such as delamination, corrosion, contents contamination or destruction and electrical failure. Performance reliability in the varied environments medical device encounter has prompted device manufacturers to investigate the complex world of conformal coatings. Understanding and addressing the issues of adhesion is of utmost importance in achieving acceptable coatings performance.

This paper describes Parylene adhesion, its measurement and enhancement and briefly describes a new adhesion promoter for hard-to-coat substrates and high temperature applications.