B-6
The Press-Dispatch
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Scotch tape finds new use as grasping 'smart material'
The researchers used Scotch
tape to create a tiny grasping claw
that collects droplets of water, an
innovation could be used to collect
water samples for environmental
testing. The material, seen here,
becomes flexible when exposed to
humidity and returns to its original
shape when dry. (Manuel Ochoa,
Purdue University)
Scotch tape, a versatile household staple and a mainstay of holiday gift-wrapping, may have a new
scientific application as a shapechanging "smart material."
Researchers used a laser to form
slender half-centimeter-long fingers out of the tape. When exposed to water, the four wispy fingers morph into a tiny robotic claw
that captures water droplets.
The innovation could be used to
collect water samples for environmental testing, said Babak Ziaie,
a Purdue University professor of
electrical and computer engineering and biomedical engineering.
The Scotch tape - made from a
cellulose-acetate sheet and an adhesive - is uniquely suited for the
purpose.
"It can be micromachined into
different shapes and works as an
inexpensive smart material that
interacts with its environment to
perform specific functions," he
said.
Doctoral student Manuel
Ochoa came up with the idea.
While using tape to collect pollen,
he noticed that it curled when exposed to humidity. The celluloseacetate absorbs water, but the adhesive film repels water.
"So, when one side absorbs water it expands, the other side stays
the same, causing it to curl," Ziaie said.
The graspers were coated with
magnetic particles, which could allow researchers to retrieve the devices in the field by using a magnet. (Manuel Ochoa, Purdue University)
A laser was used to machine
the tape to a tenth of its original
thickness, enhancing this curling
action. The researchers coated the
graspers with magnetic nanoparticles so that they could be collected with a magnet.
"Say you were sampling for certain bacteria in water," Ziaie said.
"You could drop a bunch of these
and then come the next day and
collect them."
Findings will be detailed in a
presentation during a meeting of
the Materials Research Society in
Boston from Sunday (Nov. 25) to
Nov. 30. Experiments at Purdue's
Birck Nanotechnology Center were
conducted by Ochoa, doctoral student Girish Chitnis and Ziaie.
The grippers close underwater within minutes and can sample
one-tenth of a milliliter of liquid.
"Although brittle when dry, the
material becomes flexible when immersed in water and is restored to
its original shape upon drying, a
crucial requirement for an actuator material because you can use it
over and over," Ziaie said. "Various
microstructures can be carved out
of the tape by using laser machining. This fabrication method offers
the capabilities of rapid prototyp-
ing and batch processing without
the need for complex clean-room
processes."
An animated GIF of the gripper
closing is available at https://engineering.purdue.edu/ZBML/img/
research/plain-gripper-closing.gif
The materials might be "functionalized" so that they attract specific biochemicals or bacteria in
water.
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