Regulation of the elastic modulus of polyurethane microarrays and its influence on gecko-inspired dry adhesion

We studied the influence of the elastic modulus on the gecko-inspired dry adhesion by regulating the elastic modulus of bulk polyurethane combined with changing the size of microarrays. Segmented polyurethane (PU) was utilized to fabricate micro arrays by the porous polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) membrane molding method. The properties of the micro arrays, such as the elastic modulus and adhesion, were investigated by Triboindenter. The study demonstrates that bulk surfaces show the highest elastic modulus, with similar values at around 175 MPa and decreasing the arrays radius causes a significant decrease in E, down to 0.62 MPa. The corresponding adhesion experiments show that decrease of the elastic modulus can enhance the adhesion which is consistent with the recent theoretical models.

Research highlights▶ Segmented polyurethane was utilized to fabricate microarrays. ▶ The elastic modulus and adhesion of microarrays were investigated by Triboindenter. ▶ Decrease of elastic modulus can enhance the adhesion.