Influence of humidity on the nanoadhesion between a hydrophobic and a hydrophilic surface

► Strong dependence of the adhesion force on the loading rate due to the uncooperative behavior of van der Waals interactions (bonds). ► The JKR model of mechanical-adhesive contact and the DHS model of thermally activated unbinding applied to extract kinetic and interaction potential parameters for a single adhesive bond. ► Increase of the van der Waals interaction strength per molecule versus humidity due to gradual adsorption of water into tip surface hollows.