Continuous fabrication of bio-inspired dry adhesives via roll-to-roll imprint lithography

Abstract

We report a continuous fabrication of bio-inspired dry adhesives by using a roll-toroll process and modulated, elastic PUA (e-PUA). The e-PUA combined the major benefits of commercial PUA and PDMS, production speed and softness. Production speed can be increasing upto a few seconds as PUA and adhesion of fabricated sample was good like PDMS. A roll-type fabrication system consisted with a rigiflex mold and a UV exposure unit was developed for the continuous process. By integrating the apparatus and materials for roll-to-roll process on production of dry-adhesive, dry adhesives with mushroom shaped tips in the form of a thin flexible film can be produced in a highly continuous and scalable manner. The fabricated mushroom-like microstructures with controlled geometries exhibit good structural integrity, pull-off strength, and structural durability.