Bioinspired hook surfaces based upon a ubiquitous weed (Galium aparine) for dry adhesion

Abstract

Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTGalium aparine is a plant noted for its ability to attach to solid objects through its microscopic hooked trichomes via a hook and loop mechanism. This dry adhesive behaviour has been mimicked using a simple and inexpensive epoxy resin replica moulding technique. Enhancement of adhesion strength is achieved by varying the epoxy resin replicas' Young's modulus in order to provide strong hook and loop interlocking, whilst retaining sufficient bulk material flexibility for subsequent detachment via a hook uncurling mechanism.

Smart water channelling through dual wettability by leaves of the bamboo Phyllostachys aurea

“…The study of plant surfaces, 1,2,3 has led to the discovery of some fascinating phenomena including the superhydrophobicity of Nelumbo nucifera (Indian lotus) leaf, 4 water adhesion on Rosa moyesii (red rose) 5 , dry adhesion by Galium aparine 6 , fog harvesting by Cotula fallax 7 , and water channelling by Thuja plicata. 8 The understanding and replication of such surfaces is paving the way to many everyday technological applications; for example, self-cleaning designs based upon the lotus leaf have been introduced into the paint, glass, automotive, and textile industries.…”

Rotary Microspine Rough Surface Mobility

“…A similar concept was released in 2015 with similar hook-based wheel mechanisms [9]. Other works have shown micro-structured hook patterns for adhering to rough surfaces [10,11], however in this work, we focus on hooks at the 1-10 mm length for ease of integration with the elastomeric wheels.…”

Research trends in biomimetic medical materials for tissue engineering: 3D bioprinting, surface modification, nano/micro-technology and clinical aspects in tissue engineering of cartilage and bone

“…Many researches have been reported about development of micro/nano patterns for biomedical applications using both top-down and bottom-up approaches [ 42 – 45 ]. Specially, polymer-based micro/nano patterns have been widely used for those fields because polymer-based materials have the advantages of low cost, good biocompatibility, high optical clarity and high impact strength [ 46 – 48 ]. Recently, biological materials such as diatom [ 47 ] and galium aparine [ 48 ] are increasingly used as templates for replica molding process, which enable us to fabricate micro/nano patterns and features with low-cost and high reliability.…”

“…Specially, polymer-based micro/nano patterns have been widely used for those fields because polymer-based materials have the advantages of low cost, good biocompatibility, high optical clarity and high impact strength [ 46 – 48 ]. Recently, biological materials such as diatom [ 47 ] and galium aparine [ 48 ] are increasingly used as templates for replica molding process, which enable us to fabricate micro/nano patterns and features with low-cost and high reliability. Also, conventional direct etching process to biomedical materials such as titanium (Ti) is effective to obtain micro/nano structures on its surface [ 49 ].…”