geckos and van der Waals forces - Attractive Forces

[Zellmer, Robert]

There's a link on my homepage about an article (from The Columbus
Dispatch) about geckos and why their feet are "sticky", which allows
them climb on walls.  It has to do with van der Waals attractive forces.
These are London Forces and Dipole-Dipole AF.  In this case, largely
(if not entirely) LF.  Amazing, something you've learned about is actually
applicable in your everyday life.  Well, at least if you are a gecko or
want to climb on walls like one.  Someday that may just be possible.
They are now developing adhesives that mimic the little hairs on the
gecko's feet that allow it to cling to walls. These adhesives and tapes
will be reusable.

You will find the link toward the bottom of my homepage and I've
included it here,

https://www.asc.ohio-state.edu/zellmer.1/gecko.pdf

A group at the University of Akron (among other places) has developed
a tape that works w/o any glue by mimicking how a gecko's foot works.
The home page is

http://blogs.uakron.edu/dhinojwala/biomimetics/

Some specific articles:

https://uakron.edu/search/search-results?q=gecko#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=gecko&gsc.page=1

https://www.uakron.edu/im/news/ua-researchers-resolve-fundamental-issues-explaining-gecko-adhesion

https://www.uakron.edu/im/news/ua-born-gecko-based-adhesives-company-receives-jumpstart-venture-investment

Gecko feet hold clues to creating bandages that stick when wet<http://www.uakron.edu/im/online-newsroom/news_details.dot?newsId=bdeffc93-3f0c-470b-be04-da96ff892271&crumbTitle=Gecko%20feet%20hold%20clues%20to%20creating%20bandages%20that%20stick%20when%20wet>

There is a product called Geckskin developed at UMass that uses the same van der Waal force
principals. A 3x5 note card sized piece of the material can hold a 700 lb. block of metal to glass.
The link is below.

https://geckskin.umass.edu/

Dr. Zellmer
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