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Wednesday, February 3, 2016

NanoGriptech: Gecko-Inspired Adhesives

Dexterous climbers, geckos have long been a source of inspiration for materials scientists. The lizards boast a unique sticking ability, allowing them to climb walls and hang upside down.

“Nature’s had millions of years to evolve solutions” and “humans have been engineering only for hundreds,” says Paul Glass, vice president of engineering at nanoGriptech, in an interview with R&D Magazine. “I think there’s limits to what we can learn from nature, but it’s a fantastic starting point.”

For close to a year, nanoGriptech has been offering the world’s first commercially available dry adhesive technology inspired by geckos. Called Setex, the product has applications in a variety of industries from sports and apparel to upholstery and manufacturing.

NanoGriptech’s beginnings lie at Carnegie Mellon Univ.’s campus. At the time, Glass was a PhD student studying biomedical engineering. His thesis research focused on applying biologically inspired materials to medical devices. On top of exploring gecko-inspired microstructure materials, he delved into polymers inspired by marine mussels.       


“It was a very broad education and when I graduated my thesis advisor (Metin Sitti) had just spun out nanoGriptech,” Glass says. “I had an attachment to this technology” and “it’s not every day that you get a chance to take something that you’ve been working on as a student for five years and really see how far you can push it to market.”

That was back in 2009. According to Glass, the company’s early years were heavily defined by research and development. Producing several square inches of product could take several days, sometimes weeks. But the results were exciting, inspiring the company to blaze forward and figure out how to produce the product in bulk at attractive price points.

Imitating a gecko’s ability
Geckos achieve their signature superhero-like maneuverability through molecular-level bonds known as Van der Waal’s forces.

“The table or desk you’re working on now, you know, probably feels pretty smooth to the touch, but if you go down and look at the surface under a microscope, or with very high magnification tools, you’ll see that it’s actually very rough and craggy,” Glass says. “Gecko nanohairs can form, adapt and penetrate…and make contact with the underlying surfaces.”

“You actually get intermolecular attractive forces between the molecules on the tips of the gecko foot hairs and the molecules on the underlying surface,” he adds. Taken cumulatively, the relationship creates a strong bond between the surfaces.

Setex follows the same principles.

Unlike scotch and duct tape, which are pressure sensitive adhesives, Setex leaves no residue when unstuck from a surface. Depending on the surface it’s applied to, the product can be used hundreds and even thousands of times without performance deterioration, Glass says.

“It’s a much more robust platform for technology than your industrial tape” which can pick up debris from the environment and foul quickly, Glass says.

Applications
NanoGriptech’s Setex was first launched commercially in a niche product meant for equestrian sports. A Canadian company integrated Setex patches in a pants product, allowing a horseback rider better grip during events like show jumping. “That was very much an entry point,” Glass says.

The technology can be integrated into other sports products, such as high grip gloves and other sports equipment that requires friction-enhancement to skin.

It can also be used to enhance surgical tool grip for medical professionals, and anti-slip pads and tapes, among other products.

For now, the company is focused on following a growing trajectory and exploring new markets.

Thinking back on the company’s early days, Glass says, “I was excited about who my colleagues were going to be and I was excited about starting my career in Pittsburgh.”

“I wanted to take on that challenge and I’m glad I did.”   

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