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 …

Adhesive hydrogels are attractive biomaterials for various applications, such as electronic
skin, wound dressing, and wearable devices. However, fabricating a hydrogel with both …

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 …

Miniature soft robots are mobile devices, which are made of smart materials that can be
actuated by external stimuli to realize their desired functionalities. Here, the key …

A liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) can be regarded as an integration of mesogenic molecules
into a polymer network. The LCE can generate large mechanical actuation when subjected …

Adhesive (eg van der Waals) forces were not generally taken into account in contact
mechanics until 1971, when Johnson, Kendall and Roberts (JKR) generalized Hertz'solution …

Nanomanufacturing, the commercially scalable and economically sustainable mass
production of nanoscale materials and devices, represents the tangible outcome of the …

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

Adhesives are ubiquitous in daily life and industrial applications. They usually fall into one of
two classes: strong but irreversible (eg, superglues) or reversible/reusable but weak (eg …