67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 23, 2014 — November 25, 2014)

V0037: Self-crumpling elastomers: bending induced by the drying stimulus of a nanoparticle suspension

Authors

• François Boulogne, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544
• Howard Stone, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Princeton University Princeton, NJ 08544

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2014.GFM.V0037

Capillary forces exerted by a liquid drop can bend elastic slender structures such as fibers or sheets.
However, to successfully achieve capillary origami with sheets, it is important to make sure that the adhesion of the material with the surface is low.
Where capillary forces associated with the scale of the droplet can not compete with the adhesion of the elastomer on a surface, large tensile stress can be developed in a the coating made of a drying nanoparticles soluton. This results in a moment bending the bilayer.
The peeling can be conveniently controlled by the particle size and the coating thickness.
We believe that such systems can be employed in various situations where delicate surfaces are involved such as in applications with optical and electronic components or in restoration of photographies, painting, wallpaper, fragile collectibles from contamination by dust, pollen, dirt, etc.