Electroadhesion-Mediated Interface Delamination for Assembly of Reconfigurable 3D Mesostructures

Abstract

Recently developed buckling-guided assembly methods provide a unique route to the design and manufacture of 3D mesostructures and microelectronic devices with superior performances and unusual functions. Combined with loading-path controlled strategies and/or active materials designs, reconfigurable 3D mesostructures with multiple stable 3D geometries can be formed, with promising applications in tunable antennas and multimodal actuators. The existing strategies are, however, limited by the applicable range of material types or requirements for switching between various complicated loading paths. Here, we present an electroadhesion-mediated strategy to achieve controlled adhesion of the 3D mesostructure to the substrate during the buckling-guided assembly. This strategy allows an active control of the delamination behavior in the film/substrate system, such that a variety of reconfigurable 3D mesostructures can be accessed by designing the electrode layout and strain-dependent voltage. An electromechanical model is developed to capture the delamination behavior of the film/substrate system under combined compression and voltage loadings, which is in excellent agreements with experimental measurements. Based on this model, an equivalent interface energy is proposed to quantify the contributions of the electroadhesion and van der Waals' interactions, which also facilitates simulations of the interface delamination with cohesive models in finite element analyses (FEA). Furthermore, a variety of reconfigurable 3D mesostructures are demonstrated experimentally, which agree well with FEA predictions using the concept of equivalent interface energy.

Mechanically-Guided 3D Assembly for Architected Flexible Electronics

“…Apart from creating weak interfaces to facilitate delamination, building strong interfaces in a controlled manner was also explored to enrich the obtainable 3D architectures through buckling-guided assembly. For example, the electroadhesion-mediated strategy was developed to achieve controlled adhesion by varying the applied voltages during the buckling-guided assembly, giving rise to various reconfigurable 3D mesostructures (Figure g) …”

“…For example, the electroadhesionmediated strategy was developed to achieve controlled adhesion by varying the applied voltages during the buckling-guided assembly, giving rise to various reconfigurable 3D mesostructures (Figure 6g). 243 2.4.5. Strategies for Freestanding 3D Mesostructures.…”

“…(g) Electroadhesion-mediated strategy for controlled interface adhesion. Reproduced with permission from ref ( 243 ). Copyright 2023 ASME INTERNATIONAL.…”