| Abstract Scope |
Many organisms, such as geckos, achieve strong yet fully reversible attachment that can be switched on and off on demand, a capability soft robots still struggle to replicate. Electroadhesive clutches emulate this behavior, but combining high force capacity with high switchability at low voltage remains difficult: conventional homogeneous ionoelastomers cannot simultaneously provide the stiffness, toughness, and ionic conductivity needed for both strong engagement and reliable release. Inspired by this functional versatility, we engineer microphase separation in ionoelastomers to decouple these competing requirements, pairing rigid domains for mechanical reinforcement with continuous pathways for ion transport. The resulting clutches achieve high force capacity and switchability at low voltage. We demonstrate shape locking and underwater grasping in a soft gripper, and reversible attachment for an untethered wall-climbing robot. |