Thermally Active Liquid Crystal Network Gripper Mimicking the Self-Peeling of Gecko Toe Pads

Hamed Shahsavan; Seyyed Muhammad Salili; Antal Jákli; Boxin Zhao

doi:10.1002/adma.201604021

Thermally Active Liquid Crystal Network Gripper Mimicking the Self-Peeling of Gecko Toe Pads

Adv Mater. 2017 Jan;29(3). doi: 10.1002/adma.201604021. Epub 2016 Nov 17.

Authors

Hamed Shahsavan^{1

2}, Seyyed Muhammad Salili², Antal Jákli^{2

3}, Boxin Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, Institute for Polymer Research, and Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 200 University Avenue W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
² Chemical Physics Interdisciplinary Program and Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA.
³ Complex Fluids Group, Wigner Research Centre, H-1121, Budapest, Hungary.

PMID: 27859776
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201604021

Abstract

Self-peeling of gecko toes is mimicked by integration of film-terminated fibrillar adhesives to hybrid nematic liquid crystal network (LCN) cantilevers. A soft gripper is developed based on the gecko-inspired attachment/detachment mechanism. Performance of the fabricated gripper for transportation of thin delicate objects is evaluated by the optimum mechanical strength of the LCN and the maximum size of the adhesive patch.

Keywords: biomimetics; grippers; liquid crystal networks; self-peeling.