Intelligent Strategy of Bioinspired Adaptive Structural Adhesives for Soft Biomedical and Robotic Interfaces

Intelligent artificial adhesive structure technology, inspired by natural living surfaces, enables reversible attachment to curved, rough, hairy, dry, wet, or soft surface, showing promise in the diverse fields of bioelectronics, medical devices, soft robots, and haptic interfaces. Recently, for a variety of future interface applications of the switchable adhesive materials, these intelligent adhesive interfaces are actively designed for purpose and function and manufactured from programmable soft materials through effective replication and 3-/4-dimensional printing methods. Controlling geometric features such as size and biphasic property of tips, as well as curvatures benefited mimicking of the adhesive phenomena and structures of natural surfaces. Polymeric small architectures have become important to address the issues of human interactions for biomedical applications such as bioelectronics interfaces and transdermal delivery. Furthermore, these technologies provide a solution for the development of soft robots with versatile grasping capabilities like those of octopuses. Here, advances in designs of biologically inspired adhesive architectures will be introduced in terms of distinct structural properties, attachment mechanisms to diverse surfaces by physical interactions, and noteworthy fabrication methods.<br/><br/>References<br/>[1] S. Baik, C. Pang* et al, Nature 546, 396-400 (2017).<br/>[2] Y. Park, C. Pang* et al, Advanced Materials, 29, 1606453 (2017)<br/>[3] H. J. Lee, G. W. Hwang, C. Pang* et al, ACS Nano, 15(9), 14137-14148 (2021)<br/>[3] J. Lee, C. Pang* et al, ACS Nano, 18(7), 5311-5321 (2024)<br/>[4] G. W. Hwang, S. H. Jeon, C. Pang* et al, Advanced Functional Materials, 34(6), 2308747 (2024)