The peeling apart of layered materials is common in nature and has been used by humans
in myriad applications since prehistoric times. Over the past century, a wide range of peel …

In the course of evolution nature has arrived at startling materials solutions to ensure
survival. Investigations into biological surfaces, ranging from plants, insects and geckos to …

Soft materials are materials with a low shear modulus relative to their bulk modulus and
where elastic restoring forces are mainly of entropic origin. A sparse population of strong …

Reentrant feature widely exists in natural structures ranging from mushroom, overhang,
undercut, trapezoid, sphere, spatula and taper to sharp edge, and has triggered a …

Mechanotransduction-how cells sense physical forces and translate them into biochemical
and biological responses-is a vibrant and rapidly-progressing field, and is important for a …

Joining two materials with an adhesive is an extremely common activity, but is most often
irreversible. However, emerging and current applications ranging from consumer and …

Reversible adhesion is the key functionality to grip, place, and release objects
nondestructively. Inspired by nature, micropatterned dry adhesives are promising …

Bio-inspired fibrillar adhesives have received worldwide attention but their potentials have
been limited by a trade-off between adhesion strength and adhesion switchability, and a …

The amazing adhesion of gecko pads to almost any kind of surfaces has inspired a very
active research direction over the last decade: the investigation of how geckos achieve this …

Directional arrays of branched microscopic setae constitute a dry adhesive on the toes of
pad-bearing geckos, nature's supreme climbers. Geckos are easily and rapidly able to …