Issue 25, 2020

Switchable adhesion of soft composites induced by a magnetic field

Abstract

Switchable adhesives have the potential to improve the manufacturing and recycling of parts, and to enable new modes of motility for soft robots. Here, we demonstrate magnetically-switchable adhesion of a two-phase composite to non-magnetic objects. The composite's continuous phase is a silicone elastomer, and the dispersed phase is a magneto-rheological fluid. The composite is simple to prepare, and to mold into different shapes. When a magnetic field is applied, the magneto-rheological fluid develops a yield stress, which dramatically enhances the composite's adhesive properties. We demonstrate up to a nine-fold increase of the pull-off force of non-magnetic objects in the presence of a 250 mT field.

Graphical abstract: Switchable adhesion of soft composites induced by a magnetic field

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
09 Apr 2020
Accepted
15 May 2020
First published
29 May 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Soft Matter, 2020,16, 5806-5811

Switchable adhesion of soft composites induced by a magnetic field

P. Testa, B. Chappuis, S. Kistler, R. W. Style, L. J. Heyderman and E. R. Dufresne, Soft Matter, 2020, 16, 5806 DOI: 10.1039/D0SM00626B

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