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Curly
nanotubes strengthen gecko tape
Grow a dense forest of carbon nanotubes with curly tops that entangle with each other and you have an adhesive that’s about 10 times stronger than gecko feet.
The latest gecko-inspired carbon nanotube adhesive can support a record force of 100 newtons per square centimeter. The curly ends of the nanotubes cause the adhesive to strongly resist forces parallel to surfaces but easily lift straight off.
The adhesive could be used to affix objects to walls.
Research paper:
Carbon Nanotube Arrays with Strong Shear Binding-On and Easy Normal Lifting-Off
Science, October 10, 2008
Researchers' homepages:
Professor Liming Dai's Group
Zhenhai Xia
Zhong Lin Wang
Related stories and briefs:
Super gecko tape -- previous research
Back to TRN October 13/20, 2008
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