Microfabricated adhesive mimicking gecko foot-hair

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Abstract
The amazing climbing ability of geckos has attracted the interest of philosophers and scientists alike for centuries1,2,3. However, only in the past few years2,3 has progress been made in understanding the mechanism behind this ability, which relies on submicrometre keratin hairs covering the soles of geckos. Each hair produces a miniscule force ≈10−7 N (due to van der Waals and/or capillary interactions) but millions of hairs acting together create a formidable adhesion of ≈10 N cm−2: sufficient to keep geckos firmly on their feet, even when upside down on a glass ceiling. It is very tempting3 to create a new type of adhesive by mimicking the gecko mechanism. Here we report on a prototype of such 'gecko tape' made by microfabrication of dense arrays of flexible plastic pillars, the geometry of which is optimized to ensure their collective adhesion. Our approach shows a way to manufacture self-cleaning, re-attachable dry adhesives, although problems related to their durability and mass production are yet to be resolved.