Velcro-mimicking surface based on polymer loop brushes†
Tian Zhou,Biao Han,Hao Qi,Qiwei Pan,Derrick M. Smith,Lin Han,Christopher Y. Li
Nanoscale Pub Date : 09/12/2018 00:00:00 , DOI:10.1039/C8NR05526B
Abstract

We herein report the fabrication of a Velcro-mimicking surface based on polymer brushes. Using poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) as the model polymer, polymer loop brushes (PLBs) and singly tethered polymer brushes (STPBs) with nearly identical tethering point density and brush heights were synthesized using a polymer single crystal (PSC)-assisted grafting-to method. Atomic force microscopy-based single molecular force spectroscopy (AFM-SMFS) and macroscale lap-shear experiments both demonstrated that the PLBs led to strong adhesion that is up to ∼10 times greater than the STPBs, which is attributed to the enriched chain entanglement between the probing polymer and the brushes. We envisage that our results will pave the way towards a new materials design for strong adhesives and nanocomposites.

Graphical abstract: Velcro-mimicking surface based on polymer loop brushes