Life Sciences Commons^™

Reduction Of Water Surface Tension Significantly Impacts Gecko Adhesion Underwater, Peter Niewiarowski, Ali Dhinojwala, Alyssa Stark, Brandon Mcclung

Dr. Peter H. Niewiarowski

The gecko adhesive system is dependent on weak van der Waals interactions that are multiplied across thousands of fine hair-like structures (setae) on geckos' toe pads. Due to the requirements of van der Waals forces, we expect that any interruption between the setae and substrate, such as a water layer, will compromise adhesion. Our recent results suggest, however, that the air layer (plastron) surrounding the superhydrophobic toe pads aid in expelling water at the contact interface and create strong shear adhesion in water when in contact with hydrophobic surfaces. To test the function of the air plastron, we reduced the …