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Article
Dry Adhesion Based on Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers
Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
  • Todd Blackledge, The University of Akron
  • Sching Chung Wong
  • Kai Tak Wan
  • J Najem
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2010
Disciplines
Abstract

Dry Adhesion exists between polymer nano/microfibers. An elaborate experiment was performed to directly measure the adhesion between electrospun poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microfibers using a nano force tensile tester. Electrospun nano/microfibers with radius ranging from 0.2 to 1.1 μm were investigated. It was found that the adhesion force depended on the fiber radius following a linear relationship, which complied with the classical Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) contact mechanics model. The force increased with temperature and decreased with relative humidity between two fibers positioned in orthogonal directions. Our data suggested the van der Waals’ (vdW) interactions are primarily operative between the micro-/nano-fibers.

Citation Information
Todd Blackledge, Sching Chung Wong, Kai Tak Wan and J Najem. "Dry Adhesion Based on Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers" Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition Vol. 12 (2010) p. 163 - 167
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/todd_blackledge/42/