title: Influence of surface roughness on gecko adhesion.
abstract: In this study we show the influence of surface roughness on gecko adhesion on both the nano- and macroscales. We present experimental data for the force necessary to pull off single spatulae from hard rough substrates and also detail observations on living geckos clinging to various surfaces. Both experiments consistently show that the effective adhesion shows a minimum for a root mean square roughness ranging from 100 to 300nm.
authors: Max Planck Institute for Metals Research, Heisenbergstrasse 3, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors: Gerrit
authors: G
authors: Huber
authors: Stanislav N
authors: SN
authors: Gorb
authors: Naoe
authors: N
authors: Hosoda
authors: Ralph
authors: R
authors: Spolenak
authors: Eduard
authors: E
authors: Arzt
mesh_terms: D000268:Adhesiveness; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D006813:Humidity; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008954:Models, Biological; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D014034:Toes / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*