thumb tacks, thumb tech

Musings and rantings about...EVERYTHING.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Universal adhesive that sticks to any surface

In future, you could even coat almost any object, even one made of Teflon, with microscopic patterns of metals and organic materials. I could not emphasize any more after this and this. After the common gecko which is experimented for its "bonding" ability on the wall, mussels might be the next big thing. The chemistry of protein strands that mussels use to attach themselves to nearly any type of material has helped researchers develop a new, versatile adhesive. The researchers in Northwestern University has found that under the correct condition, this protein compound forms an extremely thin polymer film on almost any type of surface applied to.

Just when there is the non-stick chewing gum that taps the hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties, this is another method for "functionalizing" materials - a universal adhesive that works on many different surfaces. A potential application might be of water filters that use tiny pellets coated with the adhesive. As water runs through a cylinder full of the pellets, the adhesive pulls harmful and "undesired" metals out of the water by binding to them. This could also be a way to print electronic circuits onto plastic flexible object.

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