Biomimetic Polymer Adhesives

Nature is filled with various living organisms, ranging from micron scale fungi to large scale vertebrates, which possess unique adhesion characteristics, including self-cleaning, antifouling, and reusability in both wet and dry environments. Inspired from the natural adhesives, humans have endeavored to mimic and acquire those adhesion characteristics in artificially designed adhesives. Over several decades, researchers have employed various fabrication techniques and have used a variety of materials, predominantly polymers, to manufacture artificial adhesives which emulate the fundamental design aspects of the bioadhesion to match their adhesion performance. In this review, we briefly discuss the fundamentals aspects of adhesion, biomimetic design principles (derived from geckos, mussels, octopuses, and tree frogs), state of the art adhesion performance of the fabricated adhesives, their applications, and future outlook for the polymer-based adhesives both under dry and wet conditions.