Artificial Gecko Adhesive, Now In Experimental Glue

thefickler writes "Scientists at the University of Dayton have created a peel-on, peel-off glue which mimics the wall-climbing abilities of Spiderman. The substance, based on the feet of the Gecko lizard, is three times stickier than existing adhesives. The material is so strong that a 4×4mm pad would be enough to hold a 1.5kg object such as a hardcover book. However, it's likely too expensive for consumer use: one British scientist calculates that a single Post-it note using the glue would cost around a thousand dollars." We've mentioned the possibilities of synthetic gecko technology several times before, including as applied in this wall-climbing robot; commercial applications have seemed just around the corner for a while now.

The Gekko Field Researcher

Hopefully, that English nature show presenter who follows the GEICO gekko [adgabber.com] around will begin using this stuff so he doesn't fall off RVs, dumpsters, etc., while he's trying to spy on his quarry.

Hmmm...

So its just like those 3M sticky hooks you can stick to your wall, hang some reasonably heavy stuff on them, then pull downwards on a tab attached to the sticky part and they come back off the wall no problem... But stronger.

Color me unimpressed. Can someone get me excited about new problems this address?

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they come back off the wall no problem

Last time I pulled one of those off the wall it came off no problem. Along with the paint and wallboard behind it!

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Well, for the same surface area, these will hang some decidedly unreasonably heavy stuff. 2x2 millimeters holds 1.5kg ... 4.5 x 4.5 will hold more than my weight. A square inch will hold 241.9kg, or over 500 pounds!

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TFS says a 4x4 mm pad holds 1.5 kg.

Someone is wrong (probably TFS, since it implies failure on ther part of the editors).

How can 4.5x4.5 mm hold more than 160 times the eight of 2x2 mm when it's just 5 times the surface area?

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Welding the hard hat directly to the beam works so much better.

Actually, not. The hat tends to melt. And I'd rather not have to weld channels to the flange to cradle the lip of the helmet either. Bolting is right out, too: it needs to have minimal impact to the structural integrity of the beam.

Cost of new technology

They mention the cost, but surely that will come down. Anything breakthrough like that is going to be expensive to create until the figure out a way to mass produce it.

I wonder, however, the type of strength you'd have to have to actually "do a Spiderman" up the building. Yes it will hold you to the building, but you'll still have to have the upper body strength to advance your way up without handholds to help if it's a flat surface.

Sci-Fi fun aside, there will no doubt be a lot of uses for this product. And a few years down the road we will have infomercial guru, Billy Mays [wikipedia.org] shouting at us to try new and improved "Gecko Glue" to hang pictures and fix broken mugs. :)

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The price will surely come down - and I expect that it will deflate much as computer and electronic technology has.

I am eager to see the data on this as it will surely spawn the creation of a Moore's-law type formula for nanotech.

Buy your nanotech stocks, some are less than $1 usd per share right now! - they won't stay that cheap forever.

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You wouldn't need to rely on upper body strength alone if you also have the stuff on your feet. That lets you use your leg muscles as well.

Even with the proportional strength of a spider, Mr. Parker usually uses his feet when wall-crawling.

Re:Cost of new technology

You wouldn't need to rely on upper body strength alone if you also have the stuff on your feet. That lets you use your leg muscles as well.

My question-- do the outer layers of skin on my fingers/toes have the adhesive properties to the inner-layers of skin or will I fall 30 stories leaving finger-skin behind? Also, how much building-dust and pollution accumulates to the adhesive, and how quickly?

I really need to know this before I try.

W

PS- are web shooters included?

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Have you ever climbed up a 80 ft ladder? It takes some serious strength to do that quickly - my arms and legs were shaking when I got to the top of the water tower. Great view though. Too bad we never did get the wifi contract. :(

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Obvious: add pads just below the knees.

Bend to peel off.

Re:Cost of new technology

I wonder, however, the type of strength you'd have to have to actually "do a Spiderman" up the building. Yes it will hold you to the building, but you'll still have to have the upper body strength to advance your way up without handholds to help if it's a flat surface.

The other big thing to think about is what are you adhering to ? This might work if you were climbing up something like clean metal or marble, but most will be much lower quality. Many surfaces if you pull too hard on them will disintegrate and the top layer will detach, so you will just end up falling off the sky scraper with a thin layer of brick or paint on your hands.

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This won't hold electrical components. It's not glue. It's a sheet of material with billions of tiny hairs that are so small they physically come in contact with the atoms of the surface they touch. This causes it to magnetically bond with the material. It's removable because you can peel away a few hairs at a time with a peeling motion.

Spiderman example warranted?

The Spiderman "application" may be useful for explaining the general function of the glue, but I wonder how it would fare in actual building-scaling. The fact that one only needs change the angle of the glue application area to detach it makes it seem too unreliable to use for holding up objects. I'd much rather be held 100 feet in the air by a cable than by a square inch of an adhesive (and in fact, I'd rather not be held in the air at all). This is just my intuition, of course, and not carefully researche

Didn't read summary but..

I am so glad they came up with a new gecko adhesive. I haven't had good results nailing my geckos down, they eat the tape, and the natural gecko adhesive just doesn't cut it.

Why?

Why would I want to stick something to an artificial gecko? Or am I not getting this...

Space Shuttle fix?

This sounds like a perfect solution for adhering the tiles to the outside of the space shuttle, provided it can withstand the heat. Considering the glue would be on the back of the insulating tiles, does that mean the temperatures would be tolerable enough for it to work?

2 cents

That's odd

Reading only the title - as is traditional around here - why would I want an adhesive which only adheres to geckos?

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Peel-On, apply directly to the peel!

Or maybe they mean you have to apply it in a reverse peeling motion instead of simply slamming it straight down....

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Or maybe they mean you have to apply it in a reverse peeling motion instead of simply slamming it straight down....

So, "lay on" or "roll on"?

Re:Not to be a pedant, but...

Actually, you are being a pedant. You're right, but, y'know, I'm sure you did know what the OP meant.

I don't mean this as an insult; it's just that your post made me grin. Kind of like when someone underscores what they are expressing metaphorically by saying, "literally." Like: "I was so hungry I literally could have eaten a horse." I've actually taken to saying, myself, "[blah blah], literally! By which I mean figuratively."

And when anyone questions my most outlandish statements, I tell them, straight faced, "I always speak in hyperbole. Always. ALLLWAYS."

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Can it be removed instantly without solvents and with no damage to the materials bonded together?

Well, there goes my Might Putty [youtube.com] reference...

Re:Article is Annoying as Hell

So wear gloves and shoes that are tightly attached. You can hold yourself up normally by your fingers and toes, right? Problem solved.

Post is annoying as hell

There are probably a few more uses for it than using a small pad to blue a book to a wall and to be spiderman. Don't be so obtuse.