Nanoparticles to Increase Strength of Surface Adhesion: An Inspiration from Biological Systems

该奖项的研究目标是确定常春藤分泌的纳米颗粒对高强度表面粘附的作用。 我们建议使用洞察力从这个自然系统来阐明的原则，管理非凡的附着能力的常春藤。 本研究的具体目标是围绕常春藤纳米粒子和粘合剂基质的物理和化学性质的表征。 我们还将系统地研究粘合剂基质中存在的纳米颗粒的量及其对整体粘合剂性能的贡献。 这些努力不仅将提高我们对纳米颗粒在生物系统表面粘附中的基本作用的理解，而且还将激发仿生方法来设计高强度粘合剂。 这些成果包括将纳米颗粒引入高强度粘合剂的定量方法，以及发现将纳米颗粒用于表面固定的基本原理。如果成功，这项研究的结果将为设计和创造能够产生大粘附力和防水的生物灵感粘合剂提供机会。 研究结果对于理解基本的生物粘附机制和开发新的生物启发纳米材料都具有重要意义。示例应用包括用于航空航天、水下和生物医学应用的强粘合剂材料。 结果将被传播，以允许创建具有强大和可调粘合强度的商业粘合剂。 研究生和本科工程专业的学生将直接参与这项研究，并获得生物启发材料和纳米技术的跨学科研究经验。 该项目还将支持预科高中学生和少数民族学生进行暑期研究。 进行这项研究的实验室是大学多样性计划的代表性实验室，并将把这个项目作为每年高中生多样性暑期计划的演示项目。

The research objective of this award is to identify the role of nanoparticles secreted by ivy for high strength surface adhesion. We propose to use insight from this natural system to elucidate the principles that govern the extraordinary affixing capability of the ivy. The specific aims of this study are centered around characterization of the physical and chemical properties of the ivy nanoparticles and the adhesive matrix. We will also systematically study the amount of nanoparticles present in the adhesive matrix and their contribution to the overall adhesive properties. These efforts will not only improve our understanding of the fundamental role of nanoparticles in surface affixing for biological systems, but also inspire bio-mimetic approaches to design high strength adhesives. Deliverables include quantitative methods to introduce nanoparticles for high strength adhesives, and discovery of fundamental principles of the nature to use nanoparticles for surface affixing.If successful, the results of this research will provide an opportunity to design and create bio-inspired adhesives that are capable of generating large adhering forces and are water resistant. The results will be significant in terms of both understanding fundamental biological affixing mechanisms and developing new bio-inspired nano-materials. Example applications include strong adhesive materials for aerospace, underwater, and biomedical applications. The results will be disseminated to allow the creation of commercial adhesives that have strong and tunable adhesive strength. Graduate and undergraduate engineering students will be directly involved in this research and gain experiences on interdisciplinary research experiences on bio-inspired materials and nanotechnology. This project will also support pre-scholar high school students and minority students in summer research. The lab conducting this research is a representative lab for diversity program at the university, and will use this project as a demo project for diversity summer program for high school students each year.