This book sets out to describe the importance of adhesion in our Universe. Although we believe that the universe is expanding and flying apart, we can also see that the Earth and its parts are sticking together with great tenacity. Gravitation explains part of this attraction on earth, but is insufficient to explain why adhesives stick jumbo jets together or why our bodies do not fall apart. To understand the strong attractions between earthly matter we must introduce the idea of molecular adhesion; the fact that all molecules attract each other with a considerable force. This idea at first seems paradoxical because we can identify situations where adhesion is very strong, for example when paint sticks to a surface, but we can also see cases where adhesion is very weak, when sand flows through an hour glass. The objective of the book is to provide explanations for these apparently perverse effects.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, engineers and technologists would have recognized the importance of adhesion in two main aspects: First, in the display of friction between surfaces — at the time a topic of growing importance to engineers; the second in crafts requiring the joining of materials — principally wood—to form engineering structures. While physical scientists would have admitted the adhesive properties of glues, gels, and certain pastes, they regarded them as materials of uncertain formulation, too impure to be amenable to precise experiment. Biological scientists were aware also of adhesive phenomena, but the science was supported by documentation rather than understanding. By the end of the century, adhesion and adhesives were playing a crucial and deliberate role in the formulation of materials, in the design and manufacture of engineering structures without weakening rivets or pins, and in the use of thin sections and intricate shapes. Miniaturization down to the micro- and now to the nano-level of mechanical, electrical, electronic, and optical devices relied heavily on the understanding and the technology of adhesion. For most of the century, physical scientists were aware that the states of matter, whether gas, liquid, or solid, were determined by the competition between thermal energy and int- molecular binding forces. Then the solid state had to be differentiated into crystals, amorphous glasses, metals, etc. , so the importance of the molecular attractions in determining stiffness and strength became clearer.

Molecular Modeling and Multiscaling Issues for Electronic Material Applications provides a snapshot on the progression of molecular modeling in the electronics industry and how molecular modeling is currently being used to understand material performance to solve relevant issues in this field. This book is intended to introduce the reader to the evolving role of molecular modeling, especially seen through the eyes of the IEEE community involved in material modeling for electronic applications. Part I presents the role that quantum mechanics can play in performance prediction, such as properties dependent upon electronic structure, but also shows examples how molecular models may be used in performance diagnostics, especially when chemistry is part of the performance issue. Part II gives examples of large-scale atomistic methods in material failure and shows several examples of transitioning between grain boundary simulations (on the atomistic level)and large-scale models including an example of the use of quasi-continuum methods that are being used to address multiscaling issues. Part III is a more specific look at molecular dynamics in the determination of the thermal conductivity of carbon-nanotubes. Part IV covers the many aspects of molecular modeling needed to understand the relationship between the molecular structure and mechanical performance of materials. Finally, Part V discusses the transitional topic of multiscale modeling and recent developments to reach the submicronscale using mesoscale models, including examples of direct scaling and parameterization from the atomistic to the coarse-grained particle level.

"Adhesion of Cells, Viruses and Nanoparticles" describes the adhesion of cells, viruses and nanoparticles starting from the basic principles of adhesion science, familiar to postgraduates, and leading on to recent research results. The underlying theory is that of van der Waals forces acting between cells and substrates, embodied in the molecules lying at the surfaces, together with the geometry and elasticity of the materials involved. The first part describes the fundamental background to adhesion principles, including the phenomenology, the important equations and the modeling ideas. Then the mechanisms of adhesion are explored in the second part, including the elastic deformations of spheres and the importance of the energy of adhesion as measured in various tests. It is demonstrated that adhesion of cells is statistical and depends on Brownian movement and on the complex multiple contacts that can form as cells move around. Then, detailed chapters on cell adhesion, contact of viruses and aggregation of nanoparticles follow in Part 3. Finally, the last chapter looks to the future understanding of cell adhesion and points out some interesting directions of research, development and treatment of diseases related to these phenomena. This book is an ideal resource for researchers on adhesion molecules, receptors, cell and tissue culturing, virus infection, toxicity of nanoparticles and bioreactor fouling. It can also be used to support undergraduate and Masters level teaching courses. "This is a fascinating book and it is an invaluable resource for understanding particle-particle/surface adhesion at micro- and nano- scales. I intend to keep one for my future reference and highly recommend it to my students." (Prof. Zhibing Zhang, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK)

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Friction, lubrication, adhesion, and wear are prevalent physical phenomena in everyday life and in many key technologies. This book incorporates a bottom-up approach to friction, lubrication, and wear into a versatile textbook on tribology. This is done by focusing on how these tribological phenomena occur on the small scale — the atomic to the micrometer scale — a field often called nanotribology. The book covers the microscopic origins of the common tribological concepts of roughness, elasticity, plasticity, friction coefficients, and wear coefficients. Some macroscale concepts (like elasticity) scale down well to the micro- and atomic-scale, while other macroscale concepts (like hydrodynamic lubrication) do not. In addition, this book also has chapters on topics not typically found in tribology texts: surface energy, surface forces, lubrication in confined spaces, and the atomistic origins of friction and wear. These chapters cover tribological concepts that become increasingly important at the small scale: capillary condensation, disjoining pressure, contact electrification, molecular slippage at interfaces, atomic scale stick-slip, and atomic bond breaking. Throughout the book, numerous examples are provided that show how a nanoscale understanding of tribological phenomena is essential to the proper engineering of important modern technologies such as MEMS, disk drives, and nanoimprinting. For the second edition, all the chapters have been revised and updated to incorporate the most recent advancements in nanoscale tribology. Another important enhancement to the second edition is the addition of problem sets at the end of each chapter.