Fabrication of a gecko-like hierarchical fibril array using a bonded porous alumina template

We report a new method to fabricate a hierarchical microfibril array by using bonded porous alumina templates. The fabrication approach extends a powerful and well-established technique of creating porous alumina to create a polymer multilevel structure, mimicking the hierarchical structure of gecko adhesive foot hairs. The nanoporous alumina (pore diameter ≈60 nm; interpore distance ≈100 nm) was generated by the anodization of an aluminum film in an oxalic acid solution. The microporous alumina was produced by exploiting the parallel wafer-scale processing of conventional lithography and anisotropic chemical etching of the thick film of anodic alumina pores. The micro- and nanoporous alumina membranes were subsequently brought into intimate contact and their bonding was accomplished by means of capillary forces and then van der Waals bonding. Hierarchical polymeric microfibrils (fibril diameter ≈10 µm; fibril length ≈70 µm) with nanofibril arrays at their tips were obtained after depositing a desired material into the pores and selective etching of the template membranes. The nanofibril has a lateral dimension of approximately 60 nm with length-to-diameter aspect ratios as high as 100:1.