Adhesive manufacturers depend on purchased adhesives, polymers, resins, films and organic additives. What is the best method for understanding variations in the quality of purchased and finished products? Common analytical methods used in an adhesive laboratory, such as DMA, GPC, TGA and FT-IR, can provide general information about raw materials or finished products, but they are often unable t...

We propose that chemically inert polymeric films can enhance van der Waals (vdW) forces in the same way as nanofabrication of biomimetic adhesive materials. For the vdW adhesion of an ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE) film on rough metal and dielectric substrates, we present a model that combines microscopic quantum-chemistry simulations of the polymer response functions and the equilibr...

The aim of this study was to analyse the extent of polymerization of different adhesive films in relation to their permeability. One adhesive of each class was investigated: OptiBond FL; One-Step; Clearfil Protect Bond; and Xeno III. Adhesive films were prepared and cured with XL-2500 (3M ESPE) for 20, 40 or 60 s. Polymerization kinetic curves of the adhesives tested were obtained with differen...

Epoxy-based nanocomposites were fabricated with different content of colloidal silica nanoparticles such as 10.0, 20.0 and 30.0 wt %, through solution casting. The covalent bonding interfaces, resulting from a ring-opening reaction between silica nanoparticles and epoxy matrix were confirmed by the Fourier transform (FT-IR) infrared spectroscopy. These nanocomposites were characterized for ...

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is one of the most widely used solid lubricants. In this work, composite MoSx/Ti coatings were deposited by direct-current magnetron sputter ion plating onto plain carbon steel substrates. The MoSx/Ti ratio in the coatings was controlled by sputtering the composite targets. The composition, microstructure, and mechanical properties of the coatings were explored using...

Safe and effective manipulation of soft tissue during laparoscopic procedures can be achieved by the use of mucoadhesive polymer films. A series of novel adhesive polymer films were formulated in house based on either Carbopol or Chitosan modified systems. The mechanical properties of the polymers and their adherence to bowel were evaluated using ex-vivo pig bowel immersed in 37°C water bath an...

The fabrication of nanowire (NW) devices on diverse substrates is necessary for applications such as flexible electronics, conformable sensors, and transparent solar cells. Although NWs have been fabricated on plastic and glass by lithographic methods, the choice of device substrates is severely limited by the lithographic process temperature and substrate properties. Here we report three new t...

Low-cost and high-yield preparation of CuInSe2 films is the bottleneck for promising CuInSe2-based thin film solar cells. Here, we developed a simple, safe and cost-effective method using thioacetic acid to fabricate the absorber films of CuIn(S,Se)2 (CISSe). Dissolution of Cu2O and In(OH)3 in thioacetic acid was attributed to the strong coordination ability of S. The adhesive precursor solutio...

Statistical copolymer films that consist of two types of monomers, a sticky and a glassy monomer, are investigated. These model systems of pressure-sensitive adhesive films are probed with X-ray reflectivity and mechanical tack measurements. For the first time, composition profiles along the surface normal in the near-surface region are monitored. The influence of the type of monomers being cop...