Human have always desired to achieve the unachievable and surprisingly, have succeeded in most of the cases. And now, it’s time to defy gravity by mimicking the gecko.
In the past, many such attempts were made to develop a material that could stick anywhere and enable a person to climb walls and ceilings. Scientists at the University of California synthesized a material that mimicked the millions tiny foot hairs, called setae, found on a gecko’s feet in the year 2002. Similarly, in 2003, scientists at the University of Manchester produced a one centimeter patch of ‘gecko tape’, but neither the University of Manchester nor University of California teams managed to produce the material in a greater quantity.
A team at a British aerospace and defense company have created a re-usable adhesive material that can stick to any surface with immense weight holding strength. The material is inspired from geckos and mimics the microscopic hairs on a gecko’s foot. The biggest advantage with this material is that it can be reused and can stick to a number of surfaces under different conditions. The BAE’s micro-engineering room facilities has etched the material using light to create thousands of stalks with splayed tips made of a polyimide, a synthetic like Nylon in a 3D pattern which makes the material stick only when pressure is applied at a certain angle creating a vacuum.
The material will boost the repair of military vehicles, and will also be very useful in medical applications. The material will also find use commercially. This is a big achievement and I am sure that after a few years we will see people climbing on walls and walking on ceilings just like lizards.
Via: CNN
