title: Evaluation of Adhesion Forces for the Manipulation of Micro-Objects in Submerged Environment through Deposition of pH Responsive Polyelectrolyte Layers.
abstract: Optimization of surface treatment for reversible adhesion of micro-objects in liquid environment for the need in microassembly processes is presented. A spherical borosilicate probe and planar oxidized silicon wafer substrates were modified by deposition of pH sensitive polyelectrolyte films through layer-by-layer technique. Branched polyethylenimine (b-PEI) and poly(sodium styrenesulfonate) (PSS) were deposited in alternating manner on surfaces, and the influence of polyelectrolyte concentration, pH of deposition, and number of layers on the adhesion were successively examined. The multilayer buildup was followed by optical reflectometry (OR) and dissipative quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D). The adhesion forces were monitored in aqueous environment at variable pH values by colloidal probe AFM microscopy. The thermodynamic work of adhesion was derived from the pull-off forces by using the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) model and compared to the work of adhesion determined from contact angle measurements. It was found out that they correlate well, however, the values accessed from JKR model were underestimated, which was attributed mainly to the effect of surface roughness. Obtained results have demonstrated that it is possible to achieve repeatable reversible adhesion with the change of pH of submerged environment by appropriately tailoring the surface properties and therefore the prevailing surface forces.
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut UTINAM-UMR, CNRS 6213, 16 Route de Gray, 25030 cedex Besançon, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vrlinic
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut UTINAM-UMR, CNRS 6213, 16 Route de Gray, 25030 cedex Besançon, France.
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Buron
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut UTINAM-UMR, CNRS 6213, 16 Route de Gray, 25030 cedex Besançon, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lakard
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut UTINAM-UMR, CNRS 6213, 16 Route de Gray, 25030 cedex Besançon, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Husson
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut FEMTO ST, Automat & MicroMechatron Syst Dept AS2M, CNRS, ENSMM, UTBM, F-25000 Besançon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rougeot
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut FEMTO ST, Automat & MicroMechatron Syst Dept AS2M, CNRS, ENSMM, UTBM, F-25000 Besançon, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gauthier
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Institut UTINAM-UMR, CNRS 6213, 16 Route de Gray, 25030 cedex Besançon, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lakard