Enhancement of nanogripper performance by using soft material coating

HG Kashani and MH Ghajar and MS Panahi and S Sadeghzadeh, PHYSICS LETTERS A, 383, 2082-2089 (2019).

DOI: 10.1016/j.physleta.2019.03.041

Nanogrippers have been widely studied for their ability of grasping and manipulating nanoparticles and their capability to be utilized inside SEM, however, due to their very small dimensions, nanogrippers still have widespread complexity in controlling and grasping nanoparticles. In macro grippers, soft materials are used at the surface of end-effectors to reduce the probability of particles damaging, while in nanogrippers, there are limited choices for the nanogrippers and their end-effectors because of manufacturing constraints. In this research, to investigate the behavior of nanoparticles during grasping by end-effectors, this process is simulated and studied numerically. Based on the nature of the problem and the impact of different dimension scales, a 3D multi-scale simulation has been used here. In this way, the effect of materials and hardness of end-effectors surfaces on the stress exerted on nanoparticles, and also the permanent deformation of an open end nanotube as an example of lateral-pressure-sensitive nanoparticles, has been studied. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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