ArticleScience advances2021
Direct evidence of acid-base interactions in gecko adhesion.
Article in Science advances, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bioinspired and Biomimetic Wetting Properties.ACS nano · 2025Review
- From Dry to Wet, the Nature Inspired Strong Attachment Surfaces and Their Medical Applications.ACS nano · 2025Review
- Design and Application of Antifouling Bio-Coatings.Polymers · 2025Review
- Long-term adhesion durability revealed through a rheological paradigm.Science advances · 2025Article
- Adhesion Mechanism, Applications, and Challenges of Ocular Tissue Adhesives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Gecko-Inspired Intelligent Adhesive Structures for Rough Surfaces.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2025Article
- Actin-templated Structures: Nature's Way to Hierarchical Surface Patterns (Gecko's Setae as Case Study).Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Gecko-Inspired Controllable Adhesive: Structure, Fabrication, and Application.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Biomimetic Structure and Surface for Grasping Tasks.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Uncover rock-climbing fish's secret of balancing tight adhesion and fast sliding for bioinspired robots.National science review · 2023Article
- The role of ecdysis in repair of an attachment system: a case study using geckos.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
- Bio-inspired adhesive hydrogel for biomedicine-principles and design strategies.Smart medicine · 2022Review
- Polar bear paw pad surface roughness and its relevance to contact mechanics on snow.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Water uptake by gecko β-keratin and the influence of relative humidity on its mechanical and volumetric properties.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Measurement of Interfacial Adhesion Force with a 3D-Printed Fiber-Tip Microforce Sensor.Biosensors · 2022Article
- Evidence that gecko setae are coated with an ordered nanometre-thin lipid film.Biology letters · 2022Article
- Wetting of the tarsal adhesive fluid determines underwater adhesion in ladybird beetles.The Journal of experimental biology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While it is generally accepted that van der Waals (vdW) forces govern gecko adhesion, several studies indicate contributions from non-vdW forces and highlight the importance of understanding the adhesive contact interface. Previous work hypothesized that the surface of gecko setae is hydrophobic, with nonpolar lipid tails exposed on the surface. However, direct experimental evidence supporting this hypothesis and its implications on the adhesion mechanism is lacking. Here, we investigate the sapphire-setae contact interface using interface-sensitive spectroscopy and provide direct evidence of the involvement of acid-base interactions between polar lipid headgroups exposed on the setal surface and sapphire. During detachment, a layer of unbound lipids is left as a footprint due to cohesive failure within the lipid layer, which, in turn, reduces wear to setae during high stress sliding. The absence of this lipid layer enhances adhesion, despite a small setal-substrate contact area. Our results show that gecko adhesion is not exclusively a vdW-based, residue-free system.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.