Near-infrared responsive gecko-inspired flexible arm gripper

Inspired by the microstructure of gecko toes, a drivable bionic gecko toe adhesion surface with double-layer structure was designed and fabricated. The driving ability is derived from the volume shrinkage of the dehydrated hydrogel after the driving hydrogel layer is irradiated by near-infrared light (808 nm) (the temperature of the single-layer hydrogel can be increased from 17.9 °C to 107 °C within 30s, and the curling angle can be curled by 0°–180°, similar to the folded state.), and another layer with a microstructure similar to gecko toes can withstand a maximum shear force of 22.4N/cm−2. The different properties of the two layers are combined together to achieve a reversible transition of adhesion/desorption similar to the gecko walking process. The double-layer structure of the drivable bionic gecko toe adhesion surface was structurally optimized to prepare a four-arm gripper that could grasp/release only by unilateral irradiation. This bilayer-structured bionic gecko toe adhesion surface has great design potential, and in the future, it is hoped that it can provide insights into the preparation of large-actuated remote-controlled robots and fast-actuated soft robots.