Kiel University at the Hannover Messe 2019

Lecture: Stuck in the north: smart surfaces for walking on the ceiling

Gecko Tape
Inspired by nature: Kiel researchers develop materials with exceptional clamping properties. Photo/Credit: Claudia Eulitz, CAU

 

Adhesive mechanisms in the natural world, as used by geckos and other animals when they walk upside down on the ceiling, have many advantages: they are always strongly adhesive without any glues or residues. Scientists at Kiel University are researching how these mechanisms can be artificially created. They have now succeeded in developing a bioinspired adhesive material.