Abstract
Colloidal nanocomposite adhesives are made by blending soft adhesive particles with hard nanoparticles (NPs) that sit at the particle boundaries to create a percolating phase. When the nanocomposite is heated with infrared (IR) radiation, the NPs sinter together to create a rigid structure that hardens the composite and thereby switches off the tack adhesion. It is discovered that the IR power density of an irradiation for 20 s must exceed a threshold value of 1.07 W cm before the tack is switched off. At lower power densities, an analysis of the sintering of the NPs shows that there is not sufficient time to link them together into a rigid structure. These results reveal that the switching of colloidal nanocomposite adhesives can be easily controlled through the IR power density and the time of the exposure. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.