Understanding silicone elastomer curing and adhesion for stronger soft devices.

ABSTRACT: Silicone elastomers are widely used in biomedical devices and soft machines because of their compliance, inertness, and biocompatibility. Their sol-gel transition during curing enables mold casting and layer-by-layer manufacturing, allowing the fabrication of fully elastomeric and hybrid soft-rigid devices. However, controlling adhesion at material interfaces remains elusive, especially under diverse temperature conditions. This study introduces a framework that relates adhesion strength to a dimensionless reaction coordinate coupling time and temperature. This reaction coordinate can be used to predict the transition from bulk fracture to adhesive failure, which is crucial to create robust devices with strong interfaces. Using this framework, we fabricated elastomeric robotic actuators an

SUBMITTER: Yap TF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12266107 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature