Robust microzip fastener: repeatable interlocking using polymeric rectangular parallelepiped arrays.

Abstract

We report a highly repeatable and robust microzip fastener based on the van der Waals force-assisted interlocking between rectangular parallelepiped arrays. To investigate zipperlike interlocking behaviors, various line arrays were fabricated with three different spacing ratios (1, 3, and 5 of 800 nm in width) and width of parallelepipeds (400 nm, 800 nm, and 5 μm with the spacing ratio of 1). In addition, the different rigidity of line arrays was inspected for a repeatable microzip fastener. The normal and shear locking forces were measured with variation of the material rigidity as well as geometry of the array, in good agreement with a proposed theory based on the contact area and force balance. The maximum adhesion forces as high as ∼8.5 N cm(-2) in the normal direction and ∼29.6 N cm(-2) in the shear direction were obtained with high stability up to 1000 cycles. High stability of our fastening system was confirmed for preventing critical failures such as buckling and fracture in practical applications.