help button home button Biophys. J.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Biophys. J. BioFAST: First Published June 24, 2005. doi:10.1529/biophysj.105.065268
© 2005 by the Biophysical Society.

A more recent version of this article appeared on August 1, 2005.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (Rapid PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
biophysj.105.065268v1
89/2/L14    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sun, W.
Right arrow Articles by Samper, V. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sun, W.
Right arrow Articles by Samper, V. D.

BIOPHYSICAL LETTERS

The Nature of the Gecko Lizard Adhesive Force

Wanxin Sun 1, Pavel Neuzil 1*, Tanu Suryadi Kustandi 1, Sharon Oh 1 and Victor Donald Samper 1

1 Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pneuzil{at}ibn.a-star.edu.sg.

Submitted on May 2, 2005
Revised on May 13, 2005
Accepted on 6 June 2005


  Abstract
The extraordinary climbing skills of gecko lizards have been under investigation for a long time. Here we report results of direct measurement of single spatula forces in air with varying relative humidities and in water, by the force-distance method using an Atomic Force Microscope. We have found that the presence of water strongly affects the adhesion force and from analysis of our results we have demonstrated that the dominant force involved is the capillary force.

Key Words: Gecko, adhesion, capillary, force




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
From the Cover: A biodegradable and biocompatible gecko-inspired tissue adhesive
PNAS, February 19, 2008; 105(7): 2307 - 2312.


Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. M. Peattie and R. J. Full
Phylogenetic analysis of the scaling of wet and dry biological fibrillar adhesives
PNAS, November 20, 2007; 104(47): 18595 - 18600.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH
Copyright © 2005 by the Biophysical Society.