Attachment ability of combined biomimetic adhesive micro-textures of different shapes

Abstract

There are various potential applications of biomimetic adhesive solutions including climbing robotic systems, mobile sensor platforms, and biomedical applications such as patches for external use. Achieving resistance to both normal and tangential loads, however, is a critical issue that still needs to be addressed. Some animals have developed exceptional attachment mechanisms based on combined fibrillar elements of different shapes and functions. Experimental investigation of combined biomimetic adhesive micro-textures on tribological performances such as adhesion, friction, and peeling resistance is needed to apply this idea to the design of an artificial texture having similar “biomimetic” properties. In the present study, we demonstrate that combinations of different shapes of biomimetic adhesive micro-textures show increased efficiency under different contact environments and enable long-term adhesive solutions. Our work sheds light on combinations of different element shapes inspired by nature and their adhesive efficiency as a function of the ratio of each biomimetic element, as well as their spatial repartition.

Analysis of the adhesion mechanism of functionalized carbon nanotubes by molecular dynamics simulation

“…[12][13][14] Although a lot of research has been carried out on the adhesion mechanism of gecko bristles, the research on adhesion materials is still limited to the design of geometric structures and the optimization of preparation process, and its adhesion mechanism is still unclear, and in particular the inuence of terminal molecular composition on its adhesion is rarely studied. [15][16][17] As reported in our recent publications (ref. [18][19][20], we have used different plasma treatment processes to modify the surface of VACNT arrays and analyzed the inuence of surface chemical composition on its adhesion, thus preliminarily revealing that graing polar functional groups can effectively enhance the adhesion of VACNT arrays through experiments.…”