Caption: The gecko-inspired adhesive can support significant weight. Increasing weight increases contact area for the adhesive (contact area is the bright area near the top of the patch). As the load increases, more fibers are recruited to make contact, increasing the strength of the adhesion parallel to the surface. When the sliding force is removed, the fibers straighten, and the patch is easily released with negligible pull-off force. The patch has demonstrated better than 1/6 of a real gecko's stress on the same glass surface. Credit: J. Lee and R.S. Fearing, UC Berkeley. Usage Restrictions: None | New adhesive is first to mimic quick catch and rapid release traits of a gecko's foot A video showing the tape under testing in the laboratory Building upon several years of research into the gecko's uncanny ability to climb sheer walls, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an adhesive that is the first to master the easy attach and easy release of the reptile's padded feet. The material could prove useful for a range of products, from climbing equipment to medical devices. Unlike duct tape or glue, the new material is crafted from millions of tiny, hard, plastic fibers that establish grip; a mere square two centimeters on a side can support 400 grams (close to a pound). While tape sticks when it presses onto a surface, the new adhesive sticks as it slides on a surface and releases as it lifts -- this is the trick behind a gecko's speedy vertical escapes. |
There are other synthetic adhesives inspired by gecko feet and they adhere much like conventional tape. In contrast, the new adhesive brushes along a surface to develop traction. While ideal for hanging posters, the characteristic is even more important for any application that requires movement, such as climbing.
Fearing and his colleagues are part of an NSF-supported Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) that was specifically tasked in 2003 with developing biologically-inspired synthetic gecko adhesives.
"The results of this project are an impressive example of how teaming engineers with biologists results in a better understanding of the role of 'engineering' in nature," says Lynn Preston, the NSF officer who supported these NIRT researchers, and many other teams of engineers and biologists, through her leadership of NSF's Engineering Research Centers program. "This is a perfect example of how to turn that understanding into products that are as sophisticated as those developed by 'Mother Nature'." ###
RELATED:
- Additional images available with the NSF press release
- Additional details about the research are available at Smart Gecko Tape
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