Qi Li,Ping Zhang,Canhui Yang,Huiling Duan,Wei Hong
On-demand adhere to and detach from soft and wet surfaces are crucial for hydrogels for applications in tissue engineering , soft machines, and soft robotics. Whereas strong adhesion has been achieved between hydrogels, on-demand switching from strong adhesion to weak adhesion for benign detachment is still under explorations. Herein, we report an approach for switchable adhesion between hydrogels by invoking a mechanical process, wrinkling. The approach is demonstrated by bonding two hydrogel adherends with a wrinkled hydrogel adhesive , with the formation and characterizations of wrinkles tailored by regulating the prestretch of adherend and optimizing the ingredients of adhesive synergistically. On one hand, the formation of wrinkles enhances adhesion by creating a tortuous path for crack propagation and an extended energy dissipation zone. The resulting adhesion is robust to elicit bulk dissipation within the adherend and transform the once adhesive failure to cohesive failure . On the other hand, the suppression of wrinkles deactivates the adhesion enhancement mechanism to facilitate effortless debonding. As a proof-of-concept, a hydrogel patch that can strongly adhere to a damaged hydrogel device for repair and gently detach after repairing, based on the switchable hydrogel adhesion, is demonstrated. The proposed method expands the design space for hydrogel adhesion.
Thermal shock resistance is critical to ensure the service safety of ceramic hot-end components. The thermal shock performance of stereolithographic additive-manufactured ceramics has not yet been studied. In this study, a series of thermal shock experiments with various temperature differences was conducted on stereolithographic additive-manufactured Al 2 O 3 ceramics. The surface cracks were analysed based on photographs captured before and after the thermal shock experiments. Three-point bending tests with in situ X-ray digital radiography were conducted to determine the thermal shock resistance. Crack initiation, propagation, and coalescence were observed under flexural loads. The critical temperature difference of the stereolithographic additive-manufactured Al 2 O 3 ceramics was determined to be 267.22 °C. The crack length increased and residual strength decreased with increasing temperature differences. The layered structure of the stereolithographic additive-manufactured ceramics slowed crack propagation . We expect that this study will serve as a reference for the performance of stereolithographic additive-manufactured Al 2 O 3 ceramics in extreme environments.