Vertical Anisotropic Microfibers for a Gecko-inspired Adhesive

Geckos are able to adhere strongly and release easily from surfaces because the structurally anisotropic fibers on their toes naturally exhibit force anisotropy based on the direction of articulation. Here, semicircular fibers, with varying amounts of contact area on the two faces, are investigated to ascertain whether fiber shape can be used to gain anisotropy in shear and shear adhesion forces. Testing of 10-μm-diameter polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fibers against a 4-mm-diameter flat glass puck show that shear and shear adhesion forces were two to five times greater when in-plane movement caused the flat face, rather than the curved face, of the fiber to come in contact with the glass puck. The directional adhesion and shear force anisotropy results are close to theoretical approximations using the Kendall peel model and clearly demonstrate how fiber shape may be used to influence the properties of the adhesive. This result has broad applicability, and by combining the results shown here with other current vertical and angled designs, synthetic adhesives can be further improved to behave more like their natural counterparts.