ABSTRACT
Over the past two decades great strides have been made in understanding the adhesion of particles to surfaces. These strides have been led by theoretical work as exemplified by the models of Johnson, Kendall, and Roberts; Derjaguin, Muller, and Toporov; and Maugis and Pollock. Experimental studies using microscopic and nanoindentor technologies have complemented these studies. More recently, there have been significant advances in technology which allow particle adhesion to be studied both experimentally and theoretically in significantly greater depth than could be achieved previously. Moreover, advances in applied areas, such as materials science and the fabrication of semiconducting devices, have driven the need to understand the adhesion of small particles to novel materials in much greater detail than was necessary previously. These advances have, to a great degree, verified many of the predictions of the appropriate theoretical models. They have also resulted in unexpected observations, which have raised questions concerning the fundamental understanding of particle adhesion. It is the goal of this paper to summarize recent advances in the field of particle adhesion and to describe some of the current challenges facing researchers in this field.
