Adhesive

Disassembling electronics into their various components for recycling is a laborious process, and involves the use of eco-unfriendly solvents. Now, however, scientists have developed a magnetically-deactivated glue that could address these problems.

Although sutures are routinely used to close wounds within the body, they can actually damage fragile biological tissue, causing infections or other complications. Scientists at MIT have developed what could be a better way to go, in the form of a double-sided tape.

Inspired by remora fish, researchers at NJIT have designed a new suction cup that’s far more adhesive than the real thing.

The promise of reusable sticky things, from Post-it Notes to Blu Tack, has never quite been fulfilled. They're just never quite as sticky the second time around, or the third. But now, a team of engineers thinks it has an answer, inspired by one of nature's great stickers, the humble, slimy snail.

​Depending on their formulation, most adhesives fail either when they're exposed to excessive humidity, or when they dry out in arid conditions. Honeybees, however, don't have such problems with their "pollen pellets." A new understanding of why this is so could lead to better manmade adhesives.

​Electronic waste is a growing problem, and if we're ever going to get on top of it, then we need to be able to recycle electronic devices as thoroughly as possible. Thanks to a new temperature-sensitive adhesive, doing so could soon be easier than ever.

Harvard scientists have led an international team to develop a new surface that can reconfigure its shape, stickiness or slipperiness on demand, through the application of a magnetic field.

​When the Dusky Arion slug feels threatened, it secretes a mucus that makes it almost impossible to remove from whatever surface it happens to be on. Inspired by that, scientists have created an adhesive gel that could conceivably be used in the human body.

A few years ago, we saw a tool called Bondic, which fixes things by applying a layer of liquid plastic that will only set hard when it’s exposed to an included UV light. Now the company is back with BondicEvo, a new model that reportedly improves the "liquid plastic welder."

Researchers at Georgia Tech have discovered that frog saliva switches between watery and viscous states, allowing the animals to both catch prey and then whip it back into their mouths. The findings could have implications for human technology.​

​If you're lifting a delicate object, you don't want to exert too much pressure on it, nor do you want to leave it covered in sticky residue. That's why scientists have developed an adhesive material that not only doesn't leave residue, but that can also be remotely "turned on and off" via UV light.

Researchers have developed a new dry adhesive that not only bonds in extreme temperatures, it even gets stronger as the heat goes up. The gecko-inspired material maintains its hold in extreme cold and actually gets stickier in extreme heat.