Summary Draft 1 (geCKo Material)


"Artificial gecko skin comes out of Professor Mark Cutkosky’s Stanford lab" (Muller, 2023) and is now marketed as geCKo Materials. It is an adhesive that is inspired by the incredible way geckos can scale walls and even move about on the ceiling. The key feature of this adhesive is that it basically mimics the gecko’s foot structure, which allows it to cling to almost any surface be it rough or smooth due to it being able to make close contact with the surface. "This field is a rather young one as it was born out of the discovery of the mechanism of adhesion in the gecko in 2002, namely Van der Waals forces" (Hawkes, 2015). Unlike how sticky tape works, where the tape sticks due to the chemicals found on one surface of the tape, gecko adhesive is a dry adhesive that is easy to remove without the use of force at all and it leaves no marks or residue. Although currently it is impossible to replicate the intricate branching structure of a gecko’s foot, the tape makes use of a crude approximation of it.

Gecko Materials, drawing inspiration from the remarkable adhesive capabilities of gecko feet, are poised to revolutionize adhesion in the future as it offer various industries with innovative, versatile and sustainable solutions to their different bonding needs. References:

Muller, D. [Veritasium]. (2023, Jan 24). The Stickiest *Non-Sticky* Substance [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS0TuIPoeBs&ab_channel=Veritasium

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  geCKo Materials, a company that is producing artificial gecko material, came out of Professor Mark Cutkosky’s lab in Stanford. It is an adhesive that is inspired by the way geckos can scale walls and move about on the ceiling. The key feature of this adhesive is that it mimics the gecko’s foot structure, which allows it to cling to almost any rough or smooth surface. If a toe from a gecko’s is placed under a microscope, it can be observed that it is made up of very fine structures called spatulas which are less than one micrometre across. Although currently it is impossible to replicate this intricate branching structure, the tape makes use of a crude approximation of it. Instead of spatulas, the tape is covered with rows of sharp silicon wedges with tips that are around one micrometre. Unlike how sticky tape works, where the tape sticks due to the chemicals found on one surface of the tape, gecko adhesive is a dry adhesive that is easy to remove without the use of force at all...
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