Wet Self-Cleaning of Superhydrophobic Microfiber Adhesives Formed from High Density Polyethylene

Biologically inspired adhesives developed for switchable and controllable adhesion often require repetitive uses in general, dirty, environments. Superhydrophobic microstructures on the lotus leaf lead to exceptional self-cleaning of dirt particles on nonadhesive surfaces with water droplets. This p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Langmuir 2012-10, Vol.28 (43), p.15372-15377
Main Authors: Lee, Jongho, Fearing, Ronald S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesives - chemistry
Animals
Biomimetics
Chemistry
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
Polyethylene - chemistry
Solid-liquid interface
Surface physical chemistry
Water - chemistry
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Summary:Biologically inspired adhesives developed for switchable and controllable adhesion often require repetitive uses in general, dirty, environments. Superhydrophobic microstructures on the lotus leaf lead to exceptional self-cleaning of dirt particles on nonadhesive surfaces with water droplets. This paper describes the self-cleaning properties of a hard-polymer-based adhesive formed with high-aspect-ratio microfibers from high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The microfiber adhesive shows almost complete wet self-cleaning of dirt particles with water droplets, recovering 98% of the adhesion of the pristine microfiber adhesives. The low contact angle hysteresis indicates that the surface of microfiber adhesives is superhydrophobic. Theoretical and experimental studies reveal a design parameter, length, which can control the adhesion without affecting the superhydrophobicity. The results suggest some properties of biologically inspired adhesives can be controlled independently by adjusting design parameters.
ISSN:0743-7463
1520-5827
DOI:10.1021/la303017a