We do not manufacture this new “Gecko” glue that claims to be able to support the weight of a full-grown man as he walks up and down walls. We manufacture eco-adhesives, such as animal glue, water-based adhesives, and liquid glues. However, it is such a cool development in the adhesive industry that we felt the need to spread the word and find out what you think about it.
According to different sources (found at the bottom of this post) this “Gecko” glue was developed at the University of Kiel in Germany. It is composed of a series of silicone “hairs,” modeled after the pattern found on the bottom of a gecko’s foot. On the bottom of their feet, geckos have little hairs called “setae” that have flat-shaped ends. A force called the Van der Waals force attracts the molecules together on the setae when they touch a surface to create adhesion.
If this work as promised, will we turn into a world of Gecko-like creatures, walking up and down any surface that we please?!
This is a very cool advancement in the adhesives field and science in general. It is amazing to think of how far we can come through hard work, education, and dedication. We at L.D. Davis are always looking for new opportunities to take us out of our “comfort zone” and make us think outside the set-up box (many set-up boxes use our animal glue!) LD Davis animal glue is a standard in the bookbinding industry as well as others, but we are hungry for more. LD Davis prides itself on being able to formulate a custom adhesive for almost any application, whether it requires animal glue or a different solution. We are always looking to expand our business into new industries that we do not yet serve.
Our lab in North Carolina gets some pretty interesting requests for adhesives, and we delight in being able to formulate a custom solution. For example, we’ve had inquiries about using our animal glue in a mixture to spray on dirt bike tracks to keep the ground more solid as the rider’s race around the track; not the most traditional animal glue application. We’ve had customers ask us to formulate glues to adhere all different kinds of surfaces, from glass to paper to metal and more. We are always looking for new uses for our animal glue. While we may not be able to climb walls with our animal glue, there are many different applications for which it is the best choice. We’ll leave climbing walls to the Geckos. For more information about L.D. Davis and our products, please visit our website.
Please leave a comment below or communicate with us via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn! Sources: Discovery.com Gizmag.com