Gecko-Inspired Glue Is Stickiest in History

A new type of superglue inspired by the gecko lizard's unusual feet could be the stickiest substance yet.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on October 16 2008

You may be most familiar with the gecko lizard from all those car insurance commercials, but this reptile is also famous for having the stickiest feet known to nature, helping the nimble creature climb with ease.

Now, a new type of superglue inspired by the gecko’s unusual feet could be the stickiest substance yet. The glue’s structure includes thin strands of carbon nanotubes, with curly carbon strands attached at the ends, which can increase the surface area for the glue to cling to. “Our sticky glue has a force 10 times that of gecko feet and three times more than previous sticky glues trying to mimic the gecko feet,” Liming Dai, one of the glue’s inventors, told Reuters.

The glue is so sticky, in fact, that people can apply it to their clothing and use it to climb up walls—the sticky substance is able to support up to 220 pounds, and can easily be removed and reapplied. Some may compare such abilities to the cartoon superhero Spiderman, but “that is not real. What we do is real,” said Zhong Lin Wang of Georgia Institute of Technology.

Wonder if the researchers’ next experiment will be creating a cape that lets you fly? We can’t wait to see what kind of superhero science they come up with.

Filed under: Science, Weird,

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