The High-Throughput Micro-Adhesion Tester

Abstract

<p> The high-throughput micro-adhesion tester (HMAT) was constructed to test the adhesive strength of polymers. The design criteria included the ability to rapidly test many different samples in a serial format, and a probe design that would compliment this objective by being easy to place and pull from the samples and easy to mass produce. The HMAT was able to perform 48 adhesion tests at about 30s per test for a total of 24 min. The final probes were made from a capillary tube with a small metal cap on the top for ease of lifting. They are easy to make and easy to place and pull from the custom probe box. The probe box was designed to hold the probes upright while the polymer is drying and during the test while not interfering with the test itself. Tests on PDMS show reasonable repeatability with the standard deviation being about 20% of the mean value. Since the HMAT is meant to be used for primary screening, the accuracy of the measurements is not as critical as it would be for later tests. </p>