Adhesion selectivity by electrostatic complementarity. I. One-dimensional stripes of charge

Highly enhanced and selective adhesion can be achieved between surfaces patterned with charges even when each one has no net charge. In this and a companion paper [C. Jin, Y. Bai, A. Jagota, and C.-Y. Hui, J. Appl. Phys. 110, 054903 (2011)] we analyze the possibility of adhesion selectivity between two flat surfaces patterned with stripes of surface charge chosen such that each surface initially carries no net charge. A few combinations, with appropriately matching strip widths, are predicted to adhere to each other. We also find that the deformability of the materials plays a critical role in defining the range of patterns that recognize each other, i.e., their selectivity. With increasing compliance, a significant enhancement of adhesion can be achieved by deformation that allows better matching between charge patterns.

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