'Super glue' imitates lizard feet

Defense and airline scientists BAE Systems has invented a super-sticky plastic called Synthetic Gecko, which simulates lizard legs.

(Photo: BBC)

Those who invented this glue said that just about one square meter of this material was able to hang a weight equivalent to a medium-sized family car.

Like the reptile feet, this new polymer is covered by millions of tiny fibers like mushrooms to help create adhesion.

In the future, this plastic could be used to make aircraft repair materials, leather patches or even be used to sew "Spider-Man" style suits .

Dr Sajad Haq, a researcher at the High Technology Center of BAE System, said: "With this glue, window cleaners can throw away ladders and climb straight up to the walls. The amount of other applications of this glue probably depends only on the imagination of the human being. "

Synthetic Gecko is not the first material inspired by this cold-blooded creature. In 2003, a team at Manchester University created a tape based on the leg structure of the gecko.

Synthetic Gecko is made up of millions of tiny filaments of the mushroom (BBC Photo) This invention is based on American scientists' research on the great climbing ability of lizards. The University of California team found that lizards have a strong adhesion ability due to the weak molecular bonding forces produced by billions of fiber structures, also known as hard silk, on. each leg of the lizard.

These forces called van der Waals appear between molecules with different charges and cause them to gravitate toward other molecules. The accumulated attraction from billions of hard silk threads will allow the lizards to run along the walls and can even hang upside down on flat glass panels. This attraction is only removed when the lizard separates its legs from the surface.

BAE's team created a material that mimics the lizard's hard silk fibers. This adhesive is made of a polyamide, similar to nylon, and covered with millions of mushroom-shaped microfiber.

Although this material has excellent adhesion properties, it does not make people feel " sticky ". Dr. Haq said: "Only when you press this material into a certain surface will it stick. It is the molecular interaction that makes it capable of adhesion."

New material can stick almost on all surfaces (Photo: BBC)

This material is made using an improved version of a photo printing technique, often used to make silicon chips. This technique uses light to engrave three-dimensional patterns into a material.

Dr Haq said: "The processes we use are the standard electronic manufacturing processes that have been improved. They are very cheap, easy to use and can easily be made with large pieces of adhesive. low cost".

Previous attempts to create "lizard materials" often use complex techniques such as electron beam imaging, which is expensive and difficult to increase production scale in large quantities.

So far, the team has created a number of different materials with different "mushroom-shaped" fibers to find ways to optimize its stickiness. They have created a number of samples with a diameter of up to about 100mm that can stick to almost all types of surfaces, including dirty surfaces.

However, the team has not yet achieved the strong adhesion ability of lizards. Dr Haq said: "The material we make can hang a car on the ceiling, or an elephant if you want. However, we have not really achieved the ability to stick. like lizard species ".