Viscoelastic Behavior and Force Nature of Thermo-Reversible Epoxy Dry Adhesives

The gecko adhesion phenomenon has stimulated efforts to produce synthetic patterned dry adhesives. Besides introducing surface patterns on dry adhesives, it is also highly desirable to understand their intrinsic material properties. This communication reports the viscoelastic behavior of non-patterned epoxy elastomers exhibiting intrinsic adhesion that is much higher than that of elastomers typically used for structure patterning. The diverse molecular origin of the adhesion is revealed through the study of adhesion against various substrates.