GERMAN RESEARCHERS DESIGN DRY ADHESIVE FROM BEETLE FOOT PAD STRUCTURE
October 2nd, 2006
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE COMPLEX structure of beetle foot pads use to walk up smooth vertical surfaces has inspired German researchers at the Max Planck Society developing a new dry adhesive. They created a polymer whose external structure is 100 micrometres-high pillars, topped by a thin 40 micrometres wide discs, upon which tiny mushroom-shapes sit. These can slot into the molecular structure of smooth surfaces, providing adhesion. Test showed that five square centimetres of the material could stick objects of up to 100 grammes to a smooth wall. The material can ...
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