Electrically Detaching Behavior and Mechanism of Ionic Conductive Adhesives

Design of rapidly detachable adhesives with high initial bonding strength is of great significance but it is full of great challenge. Here, we report the fast electrically detaching behavior (100% detaching efficiency in just 1 min under dozens of DC voltage) and high initial bonding strength (>12 MPa) of epoxy-based ionic conductive adhesives (ICAs). The epoxy-based ICAs are fabricated by introducing polyethylene glycol dimethyl ether (PEGDE) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([EMIM]OTF) into epoxy. The combination of PEGDE and [EMIM]OTF enables the free ions to migrate directively in electric field, and the anchoring of PEG chains onto epoxy chains ensures the long-term reliability of ICAs. The investigation on the electrically detaching mechanism suggests that the enrichment and following rapid interfacial electrochemical reactions of [EMIM]OTF lead to formation of metal hydroxide (Me(OH) n ) nanoparticles at the bonding interfaces, thus the strong interactions containing interlocked forces, van de Waals’ forces and hydrogen bonding interactions between ICAs and bonding substrates are destroyed. This work provides a promising direction for detachable adhesives with both high initial bonding strength and high detaching efficiency in short time.