The biomimetic replication of dry adhesion present in the gecko's foot has attracted great interest in recent years. All the microfabrication techniques used so far were not able to faithfully reproduce the hierarchical and complex three-dimensional geometry of the gecko's setae, with features at the micro- and nano-scale, thus reducing the effectiveness that such conformal morphology could provide. By means of direct laser lithography we fabricated artificial hairs that faithfully reproduce the natural model. This technique allows the fabrication of three-dimensional microstructures with outstanding results in terms of reproducibility and resolution at the micro- and nano-scale. It was possible to get very close to the morphology of the natural gecko setae, especially concerning the hierarchical shape. We designed several morphologies for the setae and studied the effects in terms of adhesion and friction performances compared to the natural counterpart, showing the interplay between morphology, dimensional scaling and materials. Direct laser lithography promises great applications in the biomimetics field, paving the way to the implementation of the concept of hierarchical bioinspired dry adhesives.

Approximating gecko setae via direct laser lithography

Tricinci O.;Filippeschi C.;Mondini A.;Mazzolai B.;Cutkosky M. R.;Greco F.
;
Mattoli V.
2018-01-01

Abstract

The biomimetic replication of dry adhesion present in the gecko's foot has attracted great interest in recent years. All the microfabrication techniques used so far were not able to faithfully reproduce the hierarchical and complex three-dimensional geometry of the gecko's setae, with features at the micro- and nano-scale, thus reducing the effectiveness that such conformal morphology could provide. By means of direct laser lithography we fabricated artificial hairs that faithfully reproduce the natural model. This technique allows the fabrication of three-dimensional microstructures with outstanding results in terms of reproducibility and resolution at the micro- and nano-scale. It was possible to get very close to the morphology of the natural gecko setae, especially concerning the hierarchical shape. We designed several morphologies for the setae and studied the effects in terms of adhesion and friction performances compared to the natural counterpart, showing the interplay between morphology, dimensional scaling and materials. Direct laser lithography promises great applications in the biomimetics field, paving the way to the implementation of the concept of hierarchical bioinspired dry adhesives.
2018
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11382/544060
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 17
social impact