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Directional adhesion of gecko-inspired angled microfiber arrays

Appl. Phys. Lett. 93, 191910 (2008); doi:10.1063/1.3006334

Published 13 November 2008

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Jongho Lee,1 Ronald S. Fearing,2 and Kyriakos Komvopoulos1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
2Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Arrays of angled microfibers with a gecko-inspired structure were fabricated from a stiff thermoplastic polymer (polypropylene) with elastic properties similar to those of beta-keratin of natural setae. Friction experiments demonstrated that this fibrillar polymer surface exhibits directional adhesion. Sliding of clean glass surfaces against and along the microfiber direction without applying an external normal force produced an apparent shear stress of 0.1 and 4.5  N/cm2, respectively. This directional adhesion is interpreted in the context of a nonlinear elastic bending model of an angled beam. Shearing and normal contact experiments yielded further evidence of the anisotropic adhesion of the fibrillar polymer and revealed the occurrence of a pull-off (adhesive) force at the instant of surface detachment, unlike vertically aligned microfiber arrays of the same material that exhibited a zero pull-off force. The results of this study provide impetus for the design of gecko-inspired adhesives with angled structures that demonstrate directional adhesion against different material surfaces. ©2008 American Institute of Physics
History: Received 3 August 2008; accepted 2 October 2008; published 13 November 2008
Permalink: http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/93/191910/1
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KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords
PACS
  • 81.40.Jj
    Elasticity and anelasticity, stress-strain relations
  • 62.20.F-
    Deformation and plasticity of solids
  • 81.40.Lm
    Deformation, plasticity, and creep
  • 68.35.Np
    Adhesion
  • 62.20.Qp
    Friction, tribology and hardness
  • 81.40.Pq
    Friction, lubrication, and wear
  • YEAR: 2008

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PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN:
0003-6951 (print)   1077-3118 (online)
Publisher:
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REFERENCES (14)
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