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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Engineering Micropatterned Dry Adhesives: From Contact Theory to Handling Applications
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 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.
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    A study of the adhesive foot of the gecko: Translation of a publication by Franz Weitlaner
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2015) Kroner, Elmar; Davis, Chelsea S.
    In recent years, hundreds of scientific studies have been published regarding gecko-inspired adhesives. The primary reason for this increasing interest lies in the unique properties which are combined in the adhesive system of the gecko: this natural system can quickly and repeatedly adhere to different surface chemistry and roughness without the use of adhesion-mediating fluids. Although these properties seem to be inconspicuous at first, there is no man-made system currently available which successfully combines all of these properties and competes with the biological adhesive system. However, there are many applications which may benefit from an artificial adhesion system inspired by geckos, ranging from climbing robots and handling systems to biomedical patches and household objects.
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    Critical aspects of substrate nanopatterning for the ordered growth of GaN nanocolumns
    (London : BioMed Central, 2011) Barbagini, Francesca; Bengoechea-Encabo, Ana; Albert, Steven; Martinez, Javier; Sanchez García, Miguel Angel; Trampert, Achim; Calleja, Enrique
    Precise and reproducible surface nanopatterning is the key for a successful ordered growth of GaN nanocolumns. In this work, we point out the main technological issues related to the patterning process, mainly surface roughness and cleaning, and mask adhesion to the substrate. We found that each of these factors, process-related, has a dramatic impact on the subsequent selective growth of the columns inside the patterned holes. We compare the performance of e-beam lithography, colloidal lithography, and focused ion beam in the fabrication of hole-patterned masks for ordered columnar growth. These results are applicable to the ordered growth of nanocolumns of different materials.
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    Numerical simulation of the edge stress singularity and the adhesion strength for compliant mushroom fibrils adhered to rigid substrates
    (Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2016) Balijepalli, R.G.; Begley, M.R.; Fleck, N.A.; McMeeking, R.M.; Arzt, E.
    Bio-inspired adhesion of micropatterned surfaces due to intermolecular interactions has attracted much research interest over the last decade. Experiments show that the best adhesion is achieved with compliant “mushroom”-shaped fibrils. This paper analyses numerically the effects of different mushroom shapes on adhesion to a rigid substrate. When a remote stress is applied on the free end of a fibril perfectly bonded to a rigid substrate, the resultant stress distribution along the fibril is found to change dramatically between the straight punch and mushroom fibrils. A singular stress field is present at the edge of the fibril where it contacts the substrate and, in this work, the amplitude of the singularity is evaluated for fibrils perfectly bonded to a flat substrate so that sliding cannot occur there. This exercise is carried out for fibril geometries involving combinations of different diameters and thicknesses of the mushroom cap. By assuming a pre-existing detachment length at the corner where the stress singularity lies, we predict the adhesive strength for various mushroom cap shapes. Our study shows that a smaller stalk diameter and a thinner mushroom cap lead to higher adhesive strengths. A limited number of results are also given for other shapes, including those having a fillet radius connecting the stalk to the cap. The results support the rational optimization of synthetic micropatterned adhesives.
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    In Situ Observation Reveals Local Detachment Mechanisms and Suction Effects in Micropatterned Adhesives
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2019) Tinnemann, Verena; Hernández, Luissé; Fischer, Sarah C.L.; Arzt, Eduard; Bennewitz, Roland; Hensel, René
    Fibrillar adhesion pads of insects and geckoes have inspired the design of high-performance adhesives enabling a new generation of handling devices. Despite much progress over the last decade, the current understanding of these adhesives is limited to single contact pillars and the behavior of whole arrays is largely unexplored. In the study reported here, a novel approach is taken to gain insight into the detachment mechanisms of whole micropatterned arrays. Individual contacts are imaged by frustrated total internal reflection, allowing in situ observation of contact formation and separation during adhesion tests. The detachment of arrays is found to be governed by the distributed adhesion strength of individual pillars, but no collaborative effect mediated by elastic interactions can be detected. At the maximal force, about 30% of the mushroom structures are already detached. The adhesive forces decrease with reduced air pressure by 20% for the smooth and by 6% for the rough specimen. These contributions are attributed to a suction effect, whose strength depends critically on interfacial defects controlling the sealing quality of the contact. This dominates the detachment process and the resulting adhesion strength. © 2019 The Authors. Published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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    Hierarchical macroscopic fibrillar adhesives: in situ study of buckling and adhesion mechanisms on wavy substrates
    (Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2015) Bauer, Christina T; Kroner, Elmar; Fleck, Norman A; Arzt, Eduard
    Nature uses hierarchical fibrillar structures to mediate temporary adhesion to arbitrary substrates. Such structures provide high compliance such that the flat fibril tips can be better positioned with respect to asperities of a wavy rough substrate. We investigated the buckling and adhesion of hierarchically structured adhesives in contact with flat smooth, flat rough and wavy rough substrates. A macroscopic model for the structural adhesive was fabricated by molding polydimethylsiloxane into pillars of diameter in the range of 0.3–4.8 mm, with up to three different hierarchy levels. Both flat-ended and mushroom-shaped hierarchical samples buckled at preloads one quarter that of the single level structures. We explain this behavior by a change in the buckling mode; buckling leads to a loss of contact and diminishes adhesion. Our results indicate that hierarchical structures can have a strong influence on the degree of adhesion on both flat and wavy substrates. Strategies are discussed that achieve highly compliant substrates which adhere to rough substrates.