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Humidity induced softening leads to apparent capillary effect in gecko adhesion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Bin Chen  and
Huajian Gao
Bin Chen
Affiliation:
[email protected] IHPC singapore, Singapore
Huajian Gao
Affiliation:
[email protected] brown Univ. Providence, United States
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Abstract

Humidity can lower the stiffness of beta keratin, which is the main component of spatula pads terminated at the bottom of a gecko's toe. To see if this softening can influence gecko adhesion, numerical simulation of the vertical peeling of a spatula pad adhered on a rough surface is performed, which shows that the reduction in material stiffness indeed leads to substantial increases in the pull-off force ″(Chen, B. and Gao, H. International Journal of Applied Mechanics, 2010). This work provides an alternative explanation of experimental observations on the capillary effect in gecko adhesion.

Keywords

adhesionnanostructurebiomaterial
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1274: Symposium QQ – Biological Materials and Structures in Physiologically Extreme Conditions and Disease , 2010 , 1274-QQ06-04
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2010

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References

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