Daniel J. Preston, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Rice University, has led the way in creating a revolutionary silicone bonding framework. His team’s efforts are described in their recently published work in Science Advances. The paper, titled “Understanding silicone elastomer curing and adhesion for stronger soft devices,” offers a novel approach that has the potential to significantly enhance the performance of soft devices.
Based on their experiments, the researchers present a new “reaction coordinate,” which links the curing reaction of silicone elastomers to a dimensionless quantity. This value is adjusted based on time and temperature. Daniel J. Preston describes this reaction coordinate as a “kind of clock” that allows engineers to optimize the curing process. This cutting-edge framework is meant to be easy and easily applicable, so it doesn’t need any new materials to put into action.
The implications of this research are substantial. Devices bonded during the ideal reaction window exhibited astonishing durability. They held up above pressures to which they were glued beyond this bandwidth. In addition, these optimally bonded devices showed the promise to flex with 50% higher curvature than their overcured peers. This added flexibility and strength open the door to novel new designs and layouts for soft devices. It makes them more functional across a broader spectrum of use cases.
Co-author Te Faye Yap contributed to the research by collaborating with Preston’s team, further solidifying the findings presented in the paper. The team recorded a dramatic improvement in interlayer adhesion. They made claims of over 200% better than conventional print capabilities.
The framework’s intuitive design makes it highly accessible for engineers and researchers developing soft devices. This approach creates a straightforward cause and effect relationship from curing conditions to device output. Fortunately, its benefits are large enough that it can make truly creative, flexible, and innovative technology very cost-effective.
