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Friction 2022, 10(8): 1192-1207 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0522-4
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 12 August 2021

Robust scalable reversible strong adhesion by gecko-inspired composite design

Show Author's Information Xiaosong LI,  Pengpeng BAI,  Xinxin LI,  Lvzhou LI,  Yuanzhe LI,  Hongyu LU,  Liran MA( ),  Yonggang MENG,  Yu TIAN( )
State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Keywords:
robotics, composite, biomimetic design, reversible adhesion, cross-scale
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LI X, BAI P, LI X, et al. Robust scalable reversible strong adhesion by gecko-inspired composite design. Friction, 2022, 10(8): 1192-1207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-021-0522-4
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Bio-inspired reversible adhesion has significant potential in many fields requiring flexible grasping and manipulation, such as precision manufacturing, flexible electronics, and intelligent robotics. Despite extensive efforts for adhesive synthesis with a high adhesion strength at the interface, an effective strategy to actively tune the adhesion capacity between a strong attachment and an easy detachment spanning a wide range of scales has been lagged. Herein, we report a novel soft-hard-soft sandwiched composite design to achieve a stable, repeatable, and reversible strong adhesion with an easily scalable performance for a large area ranging from ~1.5 to 150 cm2 and a high load ranging from ~20 to 700 N. Theoretical studies indicate that this design can enhance the uniform loading for attachment by restraining the lateral shrinkage in the natural state, while facilitate a flexible peeling for detachment by causing stress concentration in the bending state, yielding an adhesion switching ratio of ~54 and a switching time of less than ~0.2 s. This design is further integrated into versatile grippers, climbing robots, and human climbing grippers, demonstrating its robust scalability for a reversible strong adhesion. This biomimetic design bridges microscopic interfacial interactions with macroscopic controllable applications, providing a universal and feasible paradigm for adhesion design and control.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Robust scalable reversible strong adhesion by gecko-inspired composite design

Show Author's information Xiaosong LI, Pengpeng BAI, Xinxin LI, Lvzhou LI, Yuanzhe LI, Hongyu LU, Liran MA( ), Yonggang MENG, Yu TIAN( )
State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Abstract

Bio-inspired reversible adhesion has significant potential in many fields requiring flexible grasping and manipulation, such as precision manufacturing, flexible electronics, and intelligent robotics. Despite extensive efforts for adhesive synthesis with a high adhesion strength at the interface, an effective strategy to actively tune the adhesion capacity between a strong attachment and an easy detachment spanning a wide range of scales has been lagged. Herein, we report a novel soft-hard-soft sandwiched composite design to achieve a stable, repeatable, and reversible strong adhesion with an easily scalable performance for a large area ranging from ~1.5 to 150 cm2 and a high load ranging from ~20 to 700 N. Theoretical studies indicate that this design can enhance the uniform loading for attachment by restraining the lateral shrinkage in the natural state, while facilitate a flexible peeling for detachment by causing stress concentration in the bending state, yielding an adhesion switching ratio of ~54 and a switching time of less than ~0.2 s. This design is further integrated into versatile grippers, climbing robots, and human climbing grippers, demonstrating its robust scalability for a reversible strong adhesion. This biomimetic design bridges microscopic interfacial interactions with macroscopic controllable applications, providing a universal and feasible paradigm for adhesion design and control.

Keywords: robotics, composite, biomimetic design, reversible adhesion, cross-scale

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 14 October 2020
Revised: 13 January 2021
Accepted: 19 April 2021
Published: 12 August 2021
Issue date: August 2022

Copyright

© The author(s) 2021.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51425502). We dedicate this article to our great advisor, colleague, and dear friend Jacob N. ISRAELACHVILI, who passed away before we finish this work. We gratefully thank him for his contribution and guidance to the research of surface and interface, long-time collaboration, and guidance for us in the field of intermolecular and surface forces. Thanks to Prof. Jinyou SHAO at the State Key Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems Engineering of Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, for providing us some mushroom-shaped dry adhesive surface samples.

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