Talk:Synthetic setae

Clarifying Self-Cleaning
I really find Synthetic Setae fascinating, and think this is a great article. However, I have often had trouble understanding the specific section on the Self Cleaning ability each time I read it. Kellar Autumn and his research group have conducted experiments to test and demonstrate this ability of the gecko. They also use the contact mechanical model to suggest that self-cleaning occurs by an energetic disequilibrium between the adhesive forces attracting a dirt particle to the substrate and those attracting the same particle to one or more spatulae. In other words, the Van der Waals interaction energy for the particle-wall system requires a sufficiently great number of particle-spatula systems to counterbalance; however, relatively few spatulae can actually attach to a single particle, therefore the contaminant particles tend to attach to the substrate surface rather than the gecko's toe due to this disequilibrium. Figure on the right shows the model of interaction between N spatulas, a dirt particle and a planar wall.  It's important to know that this property of self-cleaning is intrinsic to the setal nano-structure and therefore should be replicable in synthetic adhesive materials.

I am really have some confusion on the "self cleaning is intrinsic to the setal nano-structure" and how the word 'intristic' am being used. I wasn't sure whether the wording of intrinsic in the sentence meant "belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing" or "originating or due to causes within a body, organ, or part." Thus, I went back to the article referenced above to see if I could figure it out. I found that Kellar and Autumn uses the wording of "intrinsic" in Self-cleaning occurred in arrays of setae isolated from the gecko. Contact mechanical models suggest that self-cleaning occurs by an energetic disequilibrium between the adhesive forces attracting a dirt particle to the substrate and those attracting the same particle to one or more spatulae. We propose that the property of self-cleaning is intrinsic to the setal nanostructure and therefore should be replicable in synthetic adhesive materials in the future. After reading this I decided to add the phrase "In fact, Kellar Autumn's group observed out how self-cleaning still occurred arrays of setae when isolated from the geckos used." I did this since mentions more about how the fact that the properties of self-cleaning are not due to causes within the body, but more "belonging to the essential nature" of the setae structure itself. This is my first wikipedian edit, so I wanted some feedback. What do you guys think? Physics16 (talk) 22:18, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Chart of Number of Papers Written
Is the "Development of biomimetic adhesives.jpg" file actually needed? It detracts from the page's aesthetics. SuperSquirrelWiki (talk) 22:13, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Merge Gecko tape into Synthetic setae
Per merge tags on both articles, a proposal to merge the Gecko tape article into the Synthetic setae article was proposed by User:Abdull in October 2010, and SmackBot dated the merge tag in November 2010. But no discussion section was started to discuss the merge proposal until now, January 2012.


 * Original nominator Supported the merge, per nom by User:Abdull at 2010-10-05T12:12:39‎.


 * Support the merger. The Gecko tape article is sourced almost entirely from a single paper, that appears to discuss “Microfabricated adhesive mimicking gecko foot-hair”, not "Gecko tape."  While research continues on mimic-ing the attractive forces of biological setae, found not only in Geckos but also various insects such as water striders, there does not seem to be a separate product or substance called "Gecko tape."  N2e (talk) 02:03, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Support since "Gecko tape" is mentioned on synth setae page.83.70.170.48 (talk) 13:55, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

Dry glue
There is yet another Wikipedia article on this phenomenon: dry glue. Perhaps it ought to be merged too. N2e (talk) 19:39, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Excluding Teflon
The indicated article link (3) has gone bad. Is there another source or can someone find an updated link? Other statements is this page indicate geckos can stick to molecularly smooth surfaces which would seem to contradict the teflon exclusion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.107.120.200 (talk) 20:22, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

Merger Proposal
I propose that Geckel be merged into Synthetic setae. I think that the content in the Geckel article is better explained within the Synthetic setae article, and the Synthetic setae article is of a reasonable size that the merging of Geckel will not cause any problems as far as article size or undue weight is concerned. Amornoguerra (talk) 19:06, 5 January 2015 (UTC)


 * SUPPORT the merge. There is insufficient, unique information on the Geckel product to make it a standalone article.  As it is, the article exists as a brand promotion for a not-all-that-notable brand/type of synthetic setae.  Better to have it here.  N2e (talk) 20:40, 5 May 2015 (UTC)