A soft gripper with contamination resistance and large friction coefficient

Zuodong Wang, Yali Wu, Jiayi Yang, Honglie Song, Khuong Ba Dinh, Dongguang Zhang, Vi Khanh Truong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
70 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

With the development of soft gripper systems, food processing, packaging, and processing technology has seen a significant advancement. The soft gripper must be protected from surface contamination and liquid lubrication; hence, a hydrophobic and contamination-resistant surface is used. There is an urgent need for a soft gripper that meets the functions of hydrophobic performance and contamination resistance, but there has been little study. In this study, the two functions are well achieved by introducing a flexible superhydrophobic surface. A novel design of a flexible superhydrophobic surface-based gripper (SSBG) is proposed by the template method. After a series of testing, it was discovered that the friction coefficient between the SSBG surface and the glass plate, cardboard, and steel plate is larger than that of a standard surface gripper (SSG). At the same time, the contamination resistance of SSBG is particularly important. Because of the existence of the plastron layer, the surface was discovered to be able to repel bacterial colonization. Finally, when the usual gripping force of the SSBG is measured on a 250 ml beaker with contamination and liquid lubrication, it can be shown that the gripping ability is improved by at least 100% and 170% compared to the SSG, respectively. As a result, the SSBG has a high potential for utilization in industrial and therapeutic contexts.

Original languageEnglish
Article number461
Number of pages11
JournalApplied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing
Volume128
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2022

Keywords

  • Bacteria repelling
  • Contamination resistant
  • Plastron layer
  • Soft gripper
  • Superhydrophobic
  • Surface patterning

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