News in Brief

Image Adhesion // New Polymer Linking Technology based on Nano Crystals Developed in Kiel © Based on Material by Kiel University, Germany

Ever tried to paint on top of silicone? After a few hours, the paint will peel off. Annoying. Silicone is a so-called low surface energy polymer, well known from flexible baking forms: A synthetic material that has an extremely low adhesion or "stickiness". Teflon is similarly non-sticky and well known from frying pans. Researchers of Kiel University (Germany) have now developed the first technology which is capable of joining these two "unjoinable" materials. The technology applies passive nano-scaled crystal linkers as internal staples. The nano staples open up solutions to a large number of technical challenges, for example in medical engineering. "If the nano staples make even extreme polymers like Teflon and silicone stick to each other, they can join all kinds of other plastic materials," says Professor Rainer Adelung. Adelung is leading the functional nano materials group at the Institute of Materials Science in Kiel and lead the research project from the materials science side. The new technology of joining materials without chemical modifications can be used, according to Adelung, in a variety of everyday life and high tech applications. The technique is easy to use and does not need expensive equipment or material.

Images: The tetrapod nano staples sink into the polymer, while some of the arms are sticking out. Image from scanning electron microscope © CAU Germany, Image: Xin Jin

The two polymer layers are stapled from the inside using nano crystals made of zink oxide. Conceptional drawing © CAU Germany, © Image: Jan Strüben