Everything about Synthetic Setae totally explained
Synthetic setae emulate the
setae found on the toes of a
gecko and scientific research in this area is driven towards the development of
dry adhesives. Geckos have no difficulty mastering vertical walls and are apparently capable of adhering themselves to just about any surface. The 5-toed feet of a gecko are covered with elastic hairs called
setae and the end of these hairs are split into so-called spatulas (no doubt because they carry a resemblance to actual
spatulas). The sheer abundance and proximity to the surface of these spatulas make it sufficient for
van der Waals forces alone to provide the required
adhesive strength.
Approaches
One experimental inroad to artificial setae is provided by
nanotubes. In one particular scheme, a thick layer of nanotubes is embedded in a polymer matrix and the adhesive force is calculated to be 200 times that provided by the gecko hairs. These multi walled nanotubes (MWNT) are generated by
chemical vapour deposition with
xylene as a carbon source and
ferrocene as a
catalyst and exposure of 10 minutes to 800
°C on a
quartz or
silicon substrate. The nanotubes have a diameter of 1 to 2 nanometres and a length of 65 micrometres. They are dipped into a solution of
methyl methacrylate with
azobisisobutylonitrile as a catalyst and
1-decenethiol as a
chain transfer agent and
polymerized to
PMMA at 50 °C for 24 hours. The top is then etched away by immersion with a
solvent like
acetone exposing the MWNT hairs. In the final step the artificial skin and hairs are stripped from the silicon or quartz substrate.
Scanning probe microscopy provides a means to measure adhesive force.
Applications
Researchers at Stanford University have created a robot which uses synthetic setae in order to scale even extremely smooth vertical surfaces just as a gecko would.
Further Information
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