Dry adhesives and methods for making dry adhesives

A method of forming a negative mold product having polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays, comprising the steps performed in the following sequence:

• providing a template structure formed from energy sensitive material product having fiber arrays selected from the group consisting of (i) polymer micro-scale fibers, (ii) polymer nano-scale fibers, and (iii) polymer micro- and nanoscale fibers;
• depositing a mold material into the template structure, wherein the mold material is different from a material of the template structure;
• allowing the mold material to cure;
• and
• separating the mold material from the template structure to form the negative mold product having polymer micro- and nano-fiber arrays.

A method of forming a product having polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays, comprising the step performed in the following sequence:

• providing a negative mold with negative shapes of polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays;
• depositing a dry adhesive material having one or more polymer micro- and/or nano-fibers into the negative mold;
• allowing the dry adhesive material to cure;
• and
• separating the dry adhesive material from the negative mold to form the product having polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays.

A method of forming a product having hierarchical structures of polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays, comprising the step performed in the following sequence:

• forming a first layer of energy sensitive material on a backing material to form a first wafer, wherein the energy sensitive material includes polymer micro- and/or nano-fibers;
• baking the first wafer;
• exposing the first layer to a predetermined pattern of energy from an energy source;
• forming a second layer of energy sensitive material on to the first layer to form a second wafer, wherein the second layer is a first layer of fibers, wherein the energy sensitive material includes polymer micro- and/or nano-fibers;
• baking the second wafer;
• exposing the second layer to a first circular array pattern of energy from an energy source energy source to form base fibers;
• baking the second wafer to cure the second layer;
• forming a third layer of energy sensitive material on to the second layer to form a third wafer, wherein the third layer is a second layer of fibers;
• heating the third layer;
• exposing the third layer to a second circular array pattern of energy from the energy source to form a second layer of fibers, wherein the second layer of fibers being smaller than the base fibers;
• and
• removing the first and second layers not exposed to the first and second circular array patterns of energy to form the product having hierarchical structures of polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays.

A method of forming a negative mold product having polymer micro- and/or nano-fiber arrays, comprising the steps performed in the following sequence:

• forming a mold backing layer of energy sensitive material on a backing material;
• exposing the mold backing layer to a predetermined pattern of energy from an energy source;
• forming a mold layer of energy sensitive material on the mold backing layer;
• applying a mask to the mold layer;
• exposing the mold layer to an energy source;
• and
• removing the mask and a portion of the mold layer not exposed to the energy source to create a pattern of exposed energy sensitive material fiber arrays forming the negative mold product, wherein the pattern of exposed energy sensitive material fiber arrays is selected from the group consisting of (i) polymer micro-scale fibers, (ii) polymer nano-scale fibers, and (iii) polymer micro- and nanoscale fibers.

A method of manufacturing a product having polymer micro- and/or nano-fibers comprising the steps of:

• forming a dry adhesive backing layer of energy sensitive material on a backing material;
• exposing the dry adhesive backing layer to a predetermined pattern of energy from an energy source;
• forming a dry adhesive layer of energy sensitive material on the dry adhesive backing layer;
• applying a mask to the dry adhesive layer;
• exposing the dry adhesive layer to an energy source;
• and
• removing the mask and a portion of the dry adhesive layer not exposed to the energy source to create a pattern of exposed energy sensitive material fiber arrays forming the product,
• wherein the pattern of exposed energy sensitive material fiber arrays is selected from the group consisting of (i) polymer micro-scale fibers, (ii) polymer nano-scale fibers, and (iii) polymer micro- and nanoscale fibers.