Phys.org October 14, 2019
The soft dendritic particle materials with unique adhesive and structure-building properties can be created from a variety of polymers precipitated from solutions under special conditions. An international team of researchers (USA – North Carolina State University, the Netherlands, UK) used ‘liquid’ nanomanufacturing to convert most polymers into branched particles after dissolving the polymer and mixing the solution rapidly with another liquid. Rapid mixing in turbulent flow creates branched particles organized in a hierarchical way. The thinnest branches surrounding these particles form a corona of nanofibers that distributes their stickiness by van der Waals forces. The process they used works with many types of polymers and is generally efficient, inexpensive and can be scaled up. The materials hold the potential for advances in gels, pastes, foods, nonwovens and coatings, among other formulations…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
NC State researchers use a chaotic technique to create ordered particles with sticky properties. Credit: Orlin Velev, NC State University