Recent advances in the fabrication and adhesion testing of biomimetic dry adhesives

Abstract

In the past two years, there have been a large number of publications on the topic ofbiomimetic dry adhesives from modeling, fabrication and testing perspectives. We reviewand compare the most recent advances in fabrication and testing of these materials. Whilethere is increased convergence and consensus as to what makes a good dry adhesive, thefabrication of these materials is still challenging, particularly for anisotropic or hierarchaldesigns. Although qualitative comparisons between different adhesive designs can be made,quantifying the exact performance and rating each design is significantly hampered by thelack of standardized testing methods. Manufacturing dry adhesives, which can reliablyadhere to rough surfaces, show directional and self-cleaning behavior and are relativelysimple to manufacture, is still very challenging—great strides by multiple researchgroups have however made these goals appear achievable within the next few years.