Shear force measurement of actuated, gecko-inspired adhesion elements with hierarchical polydimethylsiloxane pattern

摘要

The transfer of systems from nature to technical schemes is still a challenge as the fabrication of such complex systems in a cost efficient way while keeping the intended technical functionality requires appropriate materials and fabrication techniques. Here the multi-scale hierarchy of the gecko foot was transferred into membrane-actuated gecko-inspired adhesion elements (AE) to study the adhesion to surfaces. Therefore, a three level hierarchical polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) structure comprising a membrane for actuating and the micron-patterned AE were mould from a microtechnical fabricated master into PDMS by thermal and UV curing. The micron-patterned AE consist of dot or line micron patterns on top of cuboid posts with 15 mu m height that representing the second hierarchical level. For master fabrication lithographic masking, wet and dry etching as well as SU8 3D lithography was applied.