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Manoj K Chaudhury

Publications and source records attributed to Manoj K Chaudhury.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Modeling hydrophobic recovery of electrically discharged polydimethylsiloxane elastomers.

Theoretical models are proposed to account for the hydrophobic recovery kinetics of electrically discharged silicone elastomers, in which the effects of both the diffusion and adsorption of in situ produced low molecular weight (LMW) species are considered. A homogeneous solid diffusion model or a pore diffusion model well represents the surface restructuring of silicone elastomers exposed to partial electrical discharges. The computed diffusivity of the in situ produced LMW species through an inorganic, silica-like layer to the outermost part of the oxidized polymer is much smaller than that calculated from the absorption experiment of a silicone elastomer. At severe discharge intensity, no significant difference in the hydrophobic recovery is observed for extracted samples and those doped with free dimethylsiloxane fluid, whereas fluorinated siloxane fluid containing samples recover their hydrophobicity faster than the others. Modeling studies indicate that the faster recovery of the later samples may be due to the faster diffusion of the species produced from the fragmentation of the fluorinated siloxane fluid preexisting in the polymer during electrical discharge.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Vibration-actuated drop motion on surfaces for batch microfluidic processes.

When a liquid drop is subjected to an asymmetric lateral vibration on a nonwettable surface, a net inertial force acting on the drop causes it to move. The direction and velocity of the drop motion are related to the shape, frequency, and amplitude of vibration, as well as the natural harmonics of the drop oscillation. Aqueous drops can be propelled through fluidic networks connecting various unit operations in order to carry out batch processing at the miniature scale. We illustrate the integration of several unit operations on a chip: drop transport, mixing, and thermal cycling, which are precursor steps to carrying out advanced biological processes at microscale, including cell sorting, polymerase chain reaction, and DNA hybridization.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Roles of discontinuities in bio-inspired adhesive pads.

Morphological intricacies of the biological attachment pads generate considerable interest owing to their remarkable ability to control adhesion to various surfaces. Motivated by the adhesive microstructures of insects, we examine the behaviour of adhesion and crack propagation in patterned adhesive films. These films are made of silicone elastomers that were patterned with lateral, longitudinal or crosswise incisions from which a thin silanized glass plate was removed in a displacement-controlled peel experiment. The behaviours of crack propagation on these patterned adhesive films are controlled by simple incision patterns, their depths and spacing. With the crosswise incisions, significant enhancement (x10-20) of fracture energy has been achieved. These findings point towards an important mechanism by which of biological organisms might enhance adhesion, and provide a simple design principle for manipulating the interfacial fracture in a variety of artificial attachment devices.

Adhesives↗
PubMed2005

Measuring the work of adhesion between a soft confined film and a flexible plate.

We present a theoretical and experimental study of a method for the determination of the adhesion strength between a thin elastomeric film bonded to a rigid substrate and a flexible plate in a geometry common in the peel test. In particular, we characterize the work of adhesion in terms of the length of an equilibrium crack, generated by a spacer of known thickness wedged between the flexible plate and adhesive film, and the elastic and geometric properties of the film and the plate. We treat both the limit of perfect bonding and that of perfect slippage at the interface of the adhesive film and the flexible plate. A series of experiments allow us to verify the theory quantitatively and thus validate our method, which ought to be of value in many technological situations.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

The influence of elastic modulus and thickness on the release of the soft-fouling green alga Ulva linza (syn. Enteromorpha linza) from poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) model networks.

The effect of modulus and film thickness on the release of adhered spores and sporelings (young plants) of the green fouling alga Ulva (syn. Enteromorpha) was investigated. PDMS elastomers of constant thickness (100 microm) but different elastic moduli were prepared by varying cross-link density with functional silicone oligomers with degrees of polymerization ranging from 18-830. This provided a 50-fold range of modulus values between 0.2 and 9.4 MPa. Three PDMS coatings of different thicknesses were tested at constant elastic modulus (0.8 MPa). The data revealed no significant increase in percentage spore removal except at the lowest modulus of 0.2 MPa although sporelings released more readily at all but the highest modulus. The influence of coating thickness was also greater for the release of sporelings compared to spores. The release data are discussed in the light of fracture mechanics models that have been applied to hard fouling. New concepts appertaining to the release of soft fouling organisms are proposed, which take into account the deformation in the adhesive base of the adherand and deformation of the PDMS film.

Cell Adhesion↗
PubMed2004

Failure of elastomeric polymers due to rate dependent bond rupture.

A new cohesive zone model is developed in order to study the mechanisms of adhesive and cohesive failures of soft rubbery materials. The fracture energy is estimated here using a strategy similar to that of Lake and Thomas (LT) by considering the dissipation of stored elastic energy followed by the extension and relaxation of polymer chains. The current model, however, departs from that of LT in that the force needed to break an interfacial bond does not have a fixed value; instead, it depends on the thermal state of the system and the rate at which the force is transmitted to the bond. While the force required to rupture a chain is set by the rules of thermomechanically activated bond dissociation kinetics, extension of a polymer chain is modeled within both the linear and nonlinear models of chain elasticity. Closed form asymptotic solutions are obtained for the dependence of crack propagation speed on the energy release rate, which are valid in two regimes: (I) slow crack velocity or short relaxation time for bond dissociation; (II) fast crack velocity or long relaxation time for bond dissociation. The rate independent and the zero temperature limit of this theory correctly reduces to the fracture model of LT. Detailed comparisons are made with a previous work by Chaudhury et al. which carried out an approximate analysis of the same problem.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Ratcheting motion of liquid drops on gradient surfaces.

The motions of liquid drops of various surface tensions and viscosities were investigated on a solid substrate possessing a gradient of wettability. A drop of any size moves spontaneously on such a surface when the contact angle hysteresis is negligible; but it has to be larger than a critical size in order to move on a hysteretic surface. The hysteresis can, however, be reduced or eliminated with vibration that allows the drop to sample various metastable states, thereby setting it to the path of global energy minima. Significant amplification of velocity is observed with the frequency of forcing vibration matching the natural harmonics of drop oscillation. It is suggested that the main cause for velocity amplification is related to resonant shape fluctuation, which can be illustrated by periodically deforming and relaxing the drop at low frequencies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Contact angle hysteresis, adhesion, and marine biofouling.

Adhesive and marine biofouling release properties of coatings containing surface-oriented perfluoroalkyl groups were investigated. These coatings were prepared by cross-linking a copolymer of 1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl acrylate and acrylic acid with a copolymer of poly(2-isopropenyl-2-oxazoline) and methyl methacrylate at different molar ratios. The relationships between contact angle, contact angle hysteresis, adhesion, and marine biofouling were studied. Adhesion was determined by peel tests using pressure-sensitive adhesives. The chemical nature of the surfaces was studied by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Resistance to marine biofouling of an optimized coating was studied by immersion in seawater and compared to previous, less optimized coatings. The adhesive release properties of the coatings did not correlate well with the surface energies of the coatings estimated from the static and advancing contact angles nor with the amount of fluorine present on the surface. The adhesive properties of the surfaces, however, show a correlation with water receding contact angles and contact angle hysteresis (or wetting hysteresis) resulting from surface penetration and surface reconstruction. Coatings having the best release properties had both the highest cross-link density and the lowest contact angle hysteresis. An optimized coating exhibited unprecedented resistance to marine biofouling. Water contact angle hysteresis appears to correlate with marine biofouling resistance.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2002

Synthesis and surface properties of environmentally responsive segmented polyurethanes.

Polyurethanes, containing well-defined assemblies of perfluoro-polyether (PFPE or hexafluoropropene oxide oligomer), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and polyethylene glycol (PEG) segments, exhibit oleophobic, hydrophobic, and hydrophilic properties in response to the polarity of the contacting medium. These polymers were prepared by reacting hydroxy(polyethyleneoxy)-propylether-terminated PDMS block copolymer (HO-PEG-PDMS-PEG-OH) with 4,4'-methylene-bis(phenylene isocyanate) (MDI) in the presence of dibutyltin dilaurate catalyst, followed by reaction with 1,2-diol functional PFPE and chain extension with 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoro-1,4-butanediol (FB). The oleophobic and hydrophobic properties of the segmented polyurethanes (SPU) are due to the segregation of PFPE segments at the polymer-air interface. Wettability studies revealed that the same surface becomes hydrophilic, presumably due to the segregation of the PEG segments at the polymer-water interface. This hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic transformation of the surface prevails not only when the polymer is in contact with liquid water but with water vapor as well. The understanding of the reconstruction mechanism of this novel family of SPU surfaces would furnish valuable information for various applications where dynamic transformation of surface activity is desired.

Journal Article↗