Practical Applications of Bioinspired Materials

Abstract

The attachment pads of gecko lizards represent one of the most versatile and effective adhesive structures in nature, reflected in their exceptional ability to walk freely on various surfaces including vertical walls and even ceilings without any surface contamination. This unusual adhesion capability is attributed to arrays of millions of microscopic foot hairs that split into hundreds of smaller nanoscale ends called spatulas. Inspired by the fascinating adhesion properties of gecko lizards, bio-inspired dry adhesives with superior and smart adhesion properties have been developed in the last decade with the aid of micro- and nanoscale manufacturing techniques. Compared to earlier dry adhesives, the recently developed ones show excellent adhesion strength, smart directional adhesion, and structural robustness. Therefore, now it is time to drive fundamental research on bioinspired dry adhesives into a new epoch by developing unique and practical applications for these materials. Among their many possible applications in various aspects of the daily life as well as industries, dry adhesives have strong potential for use in precision industries such as semiconductor or display manufacturing, where clean and residue-free transportation of fragile silicon or glass substrates is required during the product-assembly process. Here, we introduce a new green manufacturing technology based on advanced dry adhesion systems that enable precise manipulation of various substrates over hundreds of thousands of repeating cycles without any requirement for external force application. This new manufacturing technique is also highly accurate and environment-friendly, and thus has strong potential as a next-generation clean manufacturing technology.