Abstract
Contact problems abound in modern technology: wherever two material surfaces meet, adhesion and friction must be optimized to ensure proper functioning of the device. Several natural systems as geckos, spiders, flies, leaves and cells, at a smaller scale, have developed over the years different but very effective strategies to control adhesion and friction. This usually involves a complex interplay between molecular-scale interactions and bulk structural properties. Triggered by such observations, adhesion and friction have seen a new paradigm emerge in recent years: patterning surfaces can strongly enhanced adhesion compared to planar surfaces, with the exact shape, size and surface chemico-physical properties of the contact playing a decisive role.
The main objective of this Collaborative Research Project (CRP) will be the development of an integrated framework for the engineering of bio-mimetic surface with superior adhesive and friction performances through (i) the development of predictive theoretical models (heterogeneous multi-scale models), (ii) the fabrication of artificial bio-mimetic prototypes (hierarchically structured surfaces and surfaces with a controlled roughness over multiple scales) and (iii) the testing of natural systems as well as artificial bio-mimetic prototypes against their friction and adhesive performances.
The present CRP will involve partners with different scientific backgrounds spanning from biology to applied and theoretical physics, from biomedical to electrical and mechanical engineering, with specific research expertise in friction and adhesion.
These surfaces will have applications in different fields spanning from the automotive to the biomedical industry, from micro/nano-technology to robotics and print industry.
Consortium
Project Leader:
Professor Paolo Decuzzi
CNR-INFM, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy
Principal Investigators:
Professor Eduard Arzt
Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany
Dr. Costantino Creton
CNRS, Laboratoire PPMD-UMR 7615, ESPCI, Paris, France
Dr. Pascal Damman
Laboratoire de PhysicoChimie des Polymères, Université de Mons-Hainaut, Mons, Belgium
Dr. Stanislav Gorb
Max Planck Society, Department of Thin Films and Biological Systems, Max-Planck-Institut für Metallforschung, Stuttgart, Germany
Professor Oguz Gulseren
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Bilkent University, Bilkent, Turkey
Dr. Bo N.J. Persson
Institute of Solid State Research, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
Professor Ralph Spolenak
Department of Materials, Laboratory of Nanometallurgy, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
