Search Results
Engineering Micropatterned Dry Adhesives: From Contact Theory to Handling Applications
2018, Hensel, René, Moh, Karsten, Arzt, Eduard
Reversible adhesion is the key functionality to grip, place, and release objects nondestructively. Inspired by nature, micropatterned dry adhesives are promising candidates for this purpose and have attracted the attention of research groups worldwide. Their enhanced adhesion compared to nonpatterned surfaces is frequently demonstrated. An important conclusion is that the contact mechanics involved is at least as important as the surface energy and chemistry. In this paper, the roles of the contact geometry and mechanical properties are reviewed. With a focus on applications, the effects of substrate roughness and of temperature variations, and the long-term performance of micropatterned adhesives are discussed. The paper provides a link between the current, detailed understanding of micropatterned adhesives and emerging applications.
Work on non photocatalytically active titania particles
2009, Müller, Thomas S., Faller-Schneider, Christine, Moh, Karsten, Shanmugasundaram, Sakthivel, Oliveira, Peter W. de, Veith, Michael
Titanium dioxide has photocatalytic properties, i.e. under UV irradiation it develops an oxidative potential. In photocatalysis this is very desirable, but not when nano particulate titania is embedded into organic polymer matrices in order to increase the refractive index. UV irradiation would in this case destroy the material in the long run. For deactivation in general the titania is coated by e.g. silica or alumina which leads to other undesired effects like growth of the particle size and enhanced light scattering. The current work focuses on the application of techniques for doping during synthesis of crystallization of nano particulate TiO2. The photocatalysis activity was determined by degradation experiments of 4-chlorophenol using dip coated glass plates under artificial sunlight, where decreases of the photocatalytic effect of up to 90 % were found.
A bioinspired snap-through metastructure for manipulating micro-objects
2022, Zhang, Xuan, Wang, Yue, Tian, Zhihao, Samri, Manar, Moh, Karsten, McMeeking, Robert M., Hensel, René, Arzt, Eduard
Micro-objects stick tenaciously to each other—a well-known show-stopper in microtechnology and in handling micro-objects. Inspired by the trigger plant, we explore a mechanical metastructure for overcoming adhesion involving a snap-action mechanism. We analyze the nonlinear mechanical response of curved beam architectures clamped by a tunable spring, incorporating mono- and bistable states. As a result, reversible miniaturized snap-through devices are successfully realized by micron-scale direct printing, and successful pick-and-place handling of a micro-object is demonstrated. The technique is applicable to universal scenarios, including dry and wet environment, or smooth and rough counter surfaces. With an unprecedented switching ratio (between high and low adhesion) exceeding 104, this concept proposes an efficient paradigm for handling and placing superlight objects.
Facile, fast, and inexpensive synthesis of monodisperse amorphous Nickel-Phosphide nanoparticles of predefined size
2011, Arzt, Eduard, Moh, Karsten, Cavelius, Christian, Mandel, Karl, Dillon, Frank, Koos, Antal A., Aslam, Zabeada, Jurkschat, Kerstin, Cullen, Frank, Crossley, Alison, Bishop, Hugh, Grobert, Nicole
Monodisperse, size-controlled Ni–P nanoparticles were synthesised in a single step process using triphenyl-phosphane (TPP), oleylamine (OA), and Ni(II)acetyl-acetonate. The nanoparticles were amorphous, contained 30 at% P and their size was controlled between 7–21 nm simply by varying the amount of TPP. They are catalytically active for tailored carbon nanotube growth.
Tailored polyurethane acrylate blend for large-scale and high-performance micropatterned dry adhesives
2019, Yu, Dan, Hensel, René, Beckelmann, Dirk, Opsölder, Michael, Schäfer, Bruno, Moh, Karsten, de Oliveira, Peter William, Arzt, Eduard
Continuous roll-to-roll fabrication is essential for transferring the idea of bio-inspired, fibrillar dry adhesives into large-scale, synthetic, high-performance adhesive tapes. Toward this aim, we investigated process parameters that allow us to control the morphology and the resulting adhesion of mushroom-shaped micropatterned surfaces. Flexible silicone templates enabled the replication process of the polyurethane acrylate pre-polymer involving UV-light-induced cross-linking. For this paper, we particularly tailored the polyurethane acrylate pre-polymer by adding chemical components to tune UV curing kinetics and to reduce oxygen inhibition of radicals. We found that higher intensities of the UV light and faster reaction kinetics improved the quality of the microstructures, i.e., a larger cap diameter of the mushroom tips was achieved. The polymer blend U6E4 exhibited the fastest curing kinetics, which resulted in a micromorphology similar to that of the Ni-shim master structures. Best adhesion results were obtained for adhesive tapes made from U6E4 with 116 kPa pull-off stress, 1.4 N cm−1 peel strength and 71 kPa shear strength. In addition, repeated attachment–detachment tests over 100,000 cycles demonstrated strong robustness and reusability.
Wet chemical syntheses of Ag-nanoparticles
2008, Moh, Karsten, Schumacher, Sarah
[no abstract available]
Tuning the Release Force of Microfibrillar Adhesives by Geometric Design
2022, Barnefske, Lena, Rundel, Fabian, Moh, Karsten, Hensel, René, Zhang, Xuan, Arzt, Eduard
Switchable micropatterned adhesives exhibit high potential as novel resource-efficient grippers in future pick-and-place systems. In contrast with the adhesion acting during the “pick” phase, the release during the “place” phase has received little research attention so far. For objects smaller than typically 1 mm, release may become difficult as gravitational and inertial forces are no longer sufficient to allow shedding of the object. A compressive overload can initiate release by elastic buckling of the fibrils, but the switching ratio (ratio between high and low adhesion force) is typically only 2–3. In this work, new microfibrillar designs are reported exhibiting directional buckling with high switching ratios in the order of 20. Their functionality is illustrated by in situ optical observation of the contact signatures. Such micropatterns can enable the successful release of small objects with high placement accuracy.