A Gecko-Inspired Reversible Adhesive

A synthetic, fully reversible, switchable, gecko-inspired adhesive is presented. The biomimetic system is composed of flexible nickel paddles coated with aligned vertical polymeric nanorods. When subjected to a magnetic field, adhesion decreases by a factor of 40. The ability of the adhesive to controllably stick and release from a surface could enable technologies from ubiquitous latching systems to climbing microrobotics.