Snail‐Inspired Dry Adhesive with Embedded Microstructures for Enhancement of Energy Dissipation

Abstract In various organisms in nature, the energy‐dissipation layers within their adhesive systems are known to play a significant role in enhancement of adhesion performance in pulling and peeling directions. Reported here is that the pedal‐muscle structures of snails can be exploited to form a repeatable, microstructure‐embedded adhesive, enabling enhanced adhesion in both pulling (13 N cm⁻²) and peeling (20 J m⁻²) directions with excellent repeatability (<1000 cycles). The measured adhesion strengths and energies depend on the geometrical and material parameters of the micro architecture in bio‐inspired adhesives, which are in good agreement with a simple theory based on elastic potential and dissipation energies. By employing an energy‐dissipation layer with embedded microstructures, the snail‐inspired adhesive (SIA) shows better resistance against vibrational resistance than conventional pressure‐sensitive adhesives. To improve its adaptability on rough surfaces, gecko‐like hairs are implemented on the top surface of SIA, demonstrating robust fixation against the skin.