Bioinspired Core–Shell Micropillar Array for Robust and Enhanced Adhesion and Friction

Abstract

Bioinspired structured adhesives exhibit promising applications in the fields of treatment, robotics, precision manufacturing, etc. The robust and strong adhesion and friction of the adhesive are highly required due to the easily damaged submicron structures. Here, we develop a simple method to prepare micropillar arrays with core–shell structure (PCS), which realizes a 2.03-fold adhesion and a 1.78-fold friction as compared to the pure PDMS micropillars array (PP). Moreover, the adhesion of PCS shows excellent durability over 100 repeating cycles of attachment/detachment. The enhancement can be attributed to the transfer of the maximum stress from the edge of the contact interface to the central region due to the existence of the core–shell structure. The study presents a novel approach for designing robust structured adhesives with strong adhesion and friction, which can be extended to other material combinations.