The Unreasonable Effectiveness Of Adhesive Tape

little doubt lots of you have got spent a cheerful Christmas tearing away layers of wrapping paper to reveal some new gadget. but did you cease to spare a notion for the "sticky-back plastic" retaining your precious present paper together?

There are a crazy number of adhesive tapes accessible, and listed here I'd want to focus on just a few of those I've discovered constructive in my lab, and their on occasion striking functions. I'd be attracted to your own favourite tapes and adhesives too, so please comment beneath!

but first, I'd like to delivery with the tapes that I don't use. average cellulose tape, while valuable outside the lab, is less than supreme to most lab purposes. The equal goes for vinyl-primarily based insulating tapes, which I locate have a bent to fall off leaving a messy sticky residue. When insulation is fundamental, heatshrink appears to serve superior.

The one tape I have in my lab which is similar to average cellulose tape youngsters is Scotch Magic Tape. Scotch Magic tape, made from a cellulose acetate, and has a couple of amazing houses. It's commonly favored because of it's matte finish. it might without difficulty be written on and when taped to paper looks absolutely clear. It's also convenient to tear/shape and take away. however for my applications I'm greater drawn to it's scientific functions.

here's a neat trick which you could are attempting at home. Take a roll of tape (I've tried this with Scotch Magic tape but different tapes can also work too) to a depressing room. Now birth unrolling the tape and look at interface where the tape leaves the relaxation of the roll. be sure you see a dim blue illumination. The impact is fairly spectacular and fairly magnificent. It's known as triboluminescence and has been followed given that the Nineteen Fifties in tapes and much previous in other materials (even sugar when scraped in a dark room will interestingly illuminate). The mechanism, youngsters, is poorly understood.

It turned into possibly this bizarre effect that led researchers to are trying unrolling tape in a vacuum. In 1953 a bunch of Russian researchers tried this and bizarrely adequate, were able to generate X-rays. Their results have been sadly forgotten for a long time, however were replicated in 2008 and even used to X-ray a researcher's finger! As standard Ben Krasnow has an amazing video on the subject:

In my lab besides the fact that children I mainly use Scotch tape to remove surface layers. In definite experiments it's beneficial to have an atomically flat floor. each Mica and HOPG (a form of graphite) are composed of atomically flat layers. Scotch tape can be used to eliminate the higher layers leaving a clean flat surface for experimentation.

The mechanical exfoliation of Graphene

Researchers have additionally modified this technique to supply graphene. Graphene is composed of single carbon layers and has a few fabulous homes, extremely conductive, enormously potent, and clear. For years producing small quantities of graphene offered problematic. but in 2004 a simple method become developed on the university of Manchester the use of nothing but bulk ordered graphite (HOPG) and a bit Scotch tape. When many times pressed between the Scotch tape, the Graphite layers will also be separated except ultimately most effective a sign layer of graphene is still.

using Kapton to maskout traces by means of unhealthy Prototypes

The different non-conductive tape i use constantly in my lab is of path Kapton tape. while Kapton is a Dupoint company name, it's actually a polyimide movie tape which is thermally strong up to four hundred levels C. This makes it choicest for work preserving in electronics (or overlaying out pins) when soldering. that you would be able to additionally use it for insulating (although it's inadvisable for construction functions). customarily polyimide tape is purchasable beneath a few doubtful synonyms (one example is Kaptan) from a whole lot of chinese suppliers at within your means.

Carbon tape is conductive in all axes. This capability it that you could create a electrical connection by way of effectively taping to your gadgets. It's resistance although is a little bit high. I've most commonly come throughout this when the use of electron microscopes. Carbon tape is used each to maintain a sample in location and create an electrical connection between the pattern and the sample mount.

Carbon tape, applied to a SEM mount.

different conducting tapes can be found with lessen resistance, creating a electrical connection without soldering is positive in a couple of situations. primarily when heat might harm the equipment. One illustration of this is piezoelectric substances. no longer simplest does solder regularly bond poorly to ceramic materials, but it may also depole the fabric getting rid of its piezoelectric houses. I are inclined to use conductive epoxies in these instances, however conductive tapes appear to be a fine looking option.

Aluminum tape is established for (heat) insulation in buildings. It's for this reason very inexpensive and easily obtainable. as well as conducting heat aluminum tape of path also conducts electrical energy. around the lab this can be relatively convenient. while the adhesive is not conductive, making it less appealing for connection materials, I've discovered aluminum tape excellent of sealing up holes in shielded enclosures. It also makes a good accompaniment to aluminum foil which is used to deliver ad-hoc protective in lots of scientific environments. Copper tape is additionally comfortably received, even though a little extra costly.

Z tape below a microscope

A a good deal much less usual, however some distance cooler conductive tape is so referred to as Z tape. This tape consists of average double-sided tape impregnated with spaced conductors. The result is a tape that conducts in just one course (from the precise to the bottom). This makes it similar in constitution to a zebra strip, general to connect LCDs. Z tape is alas relatively costly, a brief 100mm strip can charge 5 bucks. What precisely 3M had in mind when creating Z tape is uncertain. but it surely will also be used for repairing FPC connectors on LCDs or in other cases the place soldering is impractical.

one of the more unbelievable functions is Jie and Bunnie's circuit sticker project. The kits are designed to enable youngsters to bring together circuits with ease with the aid of sticking components together. Z tape is most reliable for this, as it allows assorted connections to be made the use of the same piece to tape.

I couldn't write a piece of writing on tape with out mentioning the a bit apocryphal "Invisible Electrostatic Wall" incident. A record at the seventeenth Annual EOS/ESD Symposium describes a "force container" like wall that regarded throughout the production of polypropylene movie. while the story looks a little bit doubtful, it reminds us of the astounding applications and utility of tapes.

next time you're sending off a equipment or ripping open a package, spare a notion for the humble tape that holds it collectively.