Bio-Inspired Adhesion and Adhesives: Controlling Adhesion by Micro-Nano Structuring of Soft Surfaces

Although the man made synthetic adhesives have quite high adhesion because of their viscoelasticity or irreversible chemical bonding, they are not reusable and are often prone to particulate contamination and cohesive failure. On the other hand, attachment pads found at the feet of different insects and climbing animals like geckos show high adhesion, self-cleaning and reusability. Decades of research have confirmed that the patterns and structures present at the surface of or buried inside the natural adhesive pads have rendered them these amazing qualities. These observation inspired scientists and researchers to mimic the structures to fabricate soft, synthetic reusable adhesives. This chapter will present a brief review on those efforts with a focus on structure and mechanism of patterned bio-adhesives and synthetic pressure sensitive adhesives.