A Glue That Sticks to Nothing
Kirt's Cogitations™ #69

RF Cafe University "Factoids," "Kirt's Cogitations," and "Tech Topics Smorgasbord" are all manifestations of my ranting on various subjects relevant (usually) to the overall RF Cafe theme. All may be accessed on these pages:

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A Glue that Sticks to Nothing

Scientists at EIC Labs have developed a new glue that doesn't stick to anything - how hard can that be? Well, the trick is that it sticks like epoxy when they need it to stick, but it can be "turned off" with the flick of a switch, literally. This new adhesive has specially implanted ions that, when subjected to a potential of 10 V to 50 V for about a minute, totally looses its stickiness. It holds indefinitely otherwise. In experiments, it permitted painted metal surfaces to be bonded together and then separated on command without even losing any paint. Potential uses include holding solar arrays in place until deployment in space, affixing temporary radio markers to animals for tracking, and even for surgical procedures.

LadyBug Technologies (RF power sensors) - RF Cafe Website

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...