Stable manipulating objects with unknown surface morphology via integration of magnetic artificial muscle and adhesive structures

作者：Fengxia Liu, Dajun Zhang, Huimin Zhu, Yingze Li, Anzhe Huang, Wencong Dou, Leyi Sun, Xiaolong Zhang, Jun Sun, Yazhou Tian, Qi Chen, Hongmiao Tian · 发表于：Microsystems & Nanoengineering · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41378-025-01033-y · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Adhesion, Friction, and Surface Interactions、Tactile and Sensory Interactions、Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials

Compared with conventional manipulating methods, such as vacuum suction, electromagnetic adsorption, and mechanical clamping, gecko-inspired adhesives possess the ability of attaching on various surfaces with extensive applications in space operation, industrial manufacturing, etc. However, adhesive structures with high adhesion on one certain surface may lose their adhesive performance when gripping another surface. Achieving a good adhesion on objects with unknown surface morphology in a simple way is still a great challenge for gecko-inspired adhesives. Inspired by the interaction of the gecko's actuating muscle and adhesive structures, we propose a smart adhesive film to adaptively manipulate objects with unknown surface morphology, consisting of magnetic artificial muscle and mushroom-shaped structures at the microscale. Controlled by the magnetic field, the adhesive film can conformally contact the target surfaces with flat/curved morphology or smooth/rough topography, and easily separated from the contacting interfaces, which process is performed without complex image recognition or detection sensors on pre-determining the detailed morphology of the opposing surfaces. This specific characteristic enables the smart adhesive film to successfully grip, transfer and release the unknown objects, extending the operating specification of gecko-inspired adhesives. Especially, in the manipulating process, the objects would not be dropped down from the smart adhesive film even i...