Georgia Tech researchers find hydrogels can resist peeling less at certain pulling speeds
Georgia Tech researchers found that soft hydrogels do not simply get stickier as they are pulled apart faster. Instead, adhesion first weakens and then strengthens as pulling speed increases, revealing a previously unknown point where separation is easiest.
The team used atomic force microscopy to measure hydrogel adhesion across a wide range of pulling speeds and found a dip in stickiness rather than a steady increase. They developed a theoretical framework attributing this to two competing molecular processes, bond formation and bond relaxation under load, and confirmed it with confocal microscopy imaging of the contact area. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Findings like this from Georgia Tech show Georgians how fundamental physical mechanics research can shape future medical and robotic technologies.
Source: Georgia Tech George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering