| Title | Polymer brushes for improvement of dry adhesion in biomimetic dry adhesives |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2014 |
| Authors | Chaudhary, O.J., Calius E.P., Kennedy J.V., and Travas-Sejdic J. |
| Journal | International Journal of Nanotechnology |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 5-8 |
| Pagination | 636 - 644 |
| Date Published | 2014 |
| ISSN | 14757435 (ISSN) |
| Keywords | Adhesion, Atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP), Atom transfer radical polymerization, ATR-FT-IR spectroscopy, Biomimetic adhesives, Biomimetics, Dendrimers, Dry adhesion, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Functional polymers, Grafting (chemical), Microchannels, PDMS, Polybutyl acrylate, Polydimethylsiloxane PDMS, Polymer brushes, Surfaces |
| Abstract | Geckos' feet are extensively micro-structured, enabling geckos to adhere strongly to most surfaces and perform various manoeuvres even while upside down. Inspired by the structure of geckos' feet, a large number of biomimetic dry adhesives have been reported. Polymers brushes can offer a molecular scale attachment to surfaces; here we studied the effect of polymerbrushes on adhesion. Atom transfer radical polymerisation (ATRP) was used to graft poly(butyl acrylate) brushes on a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) surface using a surface-bound ATRP initiator. Growth of the polymer brushes was verified by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. To study the effect of polymer brushes, the samples were tested for pull-off adhesion with and without the grafted chains. The polymer-grafted PDMS showed an increase in adhesion compared to unmodified PDMS. Results suggest that carefully selected polymer brushes will enhance the adhesion of microstructured biomimetic adhesives. Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. |
| URL | http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84900401139&partnerID=40&md5=c186d481bab0333c735517f1e7cc30a0 |
| DOI | 10.1504/IJNT.2014.060586 |
