Deep UV patterning of acrylic masters for molding biomimetic dry adhesives

We present a novel fabrication method for the production of biomimetic dry adhesives that allows enormous variation in fiber shapes and sizes. The technology is based on deep-UV patterning of commercial acrylic with semi-collimated light available from germicidal lamps, and combined careful processing conditions, material selection and novel developer choices to produce relatively high-aspect-ratio fibers with overhanging caps on large areas. These acrylic fibers are used as a master mold for subsequent silicone rubber negative mold casting. Because the bulk acrylic demonstrates little inherent adhesion to silicone rubbers, the master molds created in this process do not require any surface treatments to achieve high-yield demolding of interlocked structures. Multiple polymers can be cast from silicone rubber negative molds and this process could be used to structure smart materials on areas over multiple square feet. Using direct photopatterning of acrylic allows many of the desired structures for biomimetic dry adhesives to be produced with relative ease compared to silicon-based molding processes, including angled fibers and hierarchical structures. Optimized fiber shapes for a variety of polymers can be produced using this process, and adhesion measurements on a well-characterized polyurethane, ST-1060, are used to determine the effect of fiber geometry on adhesion performance.