Research team discovers universal mechanism that leads to adhesion hysteresis in soft materials
Adhesive tape or sticky notes are easy to attach to a surface, but are difficult to remove. This phenomenon, known as adhesion hysteresis, can be fundamentally observed in soft, elastic materials: Adhesive contact is formed more easily than it is broken. Researchers at the University of Freiburg, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Akron in the US have now discovered that this adhesion hysteresis is caused by the surface roughness of the adherent soft materials. ...
