Fabrication of bioinspired dry adhesives by CNC machining and replica molding

Abstract

Bioinspired dry adhesives have attracted considerable attention over the last decade because of their superiority in properties, such as adhesion strength, repeatable and reversible adhesion, rough surface adaptation, self-cleaning, and directional adhesion. However, previous manufacturing techniques of bioinspired dry adhesives based on lithographic approaches, such as photolithography or ebeam lithography, require high-cost, sophisticated, and non-environmental friendly processes and materials. These requirements significantly limit the scalable production and commercialization of bioinspired dry adhesives. In this paper, we present a new manufacturing technique based on automated CNC machining and replica molding. This method enables simple and scalable fabrication of bioinspired dry adhesives. Our suggested manufacturing process will facilitate the widespread use and commercialization of biomimetic smart dry adhesives.