Gecko-inspired adhesive

News

Researchers at the University of Dayton claim to have developed a gecko-inspired adhesive that is ten times stronger than a gecko, at about 100 Newtons per square centimetre.

The gecko's ability to stick to surfaces and walk up walls has inspired many researchers to manufacture materials that mimic the surface of a gecko's foot.

Now, Liming Dai from the University of Dayton and his colleagues claim to have developed a gecko-inspired adhesive that is ten times stronger than a gecko, at about 100 Newtons per square centimetre.

The secret behind the gecko's ability to stick so well is a forest of pillars on the underside of its foot.

Because there are so many pillars so close together, they are held tightly to the surface the gecko is walking on by a molecular force called the Van der Waals force.

To mimic the functionality of the gecko foot, the Dayton researchers constructed their adhesive out of two slightly different layers of multi-walled carbon nanotubes.

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