Sticky research that Spider-Man would love

UAlberta engineering researchers use deliberate flaw to develop new adhesives that work like the wall-crawler's superpower. A microscopic image of the adhesive material manufactured in mechanical engineering researcher Dan Sameoto's lab. The scored lines on the left side of each cap are an intentional defect built into the cap, enabling the tips to stick to a surface strongly in one direction and peel off more easily when pulled in the opposite direction. A team of University of Alberta engineering researchers are developing new adhesives inspired by a gecko's foot that have directional stickiness. Think of Spider-Man scaling the side of a building and you've got the picture. Mechanical engineering professor Dan Sameoto and his research team recently published findings from their research in which they turned flaws in previous experiments into a huge advantage. The result is an adhesive strip that sticks more when pulled in one direction than in another.