To address the difficulty of joining polystyrene (PS) and titanium by laser transmission joining, two methods-laser treatment of the titanium surface and oxygen plasma treatment of the PS surface-are used to compare the laser transmission joint strengths of the different treatment methods. The results of the experiments find that joining with titanium can be achieved only when PS is treated with oxygen plasma. When the laser-treated surface of titanium is jointed to the oxygen plasma-treated PS, the joint strength is the highest, reaching 6.5 MPa. The joining mechanism of oxygen plasma-treated PS and laser oxidation-treated titanium was investigated by joint tensile failure mode, joint micromorphology observation, contact angle and surface free energy experiments, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results show that the failure mode of the joint is an interfacial failure; the size and amount of bubbles play an important role in the joining strength, and the joints with fine and uniform bubbles have the highest joint strength. The two surface treatment methods can improve the surface energy of the joints, improve the compatibility between the two joining surfaces, and enhance the joint strength. Ti⁻C and Ti⁻O chemical bonds are formed at the joints, which are the main reason for the increase in joint strength.
Keywords: XPS; chemical bonds; contact angle; laser surface treatment; laser transmission joining; oxygen plasma treatment; surface free energy.