Iron oxide pollen replicas demonstrate multimodal adhesion

摘要

Magnetic replicas of sunflower pollen grains have been created by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (GT) using a wet chemical, layer-by-layer process that produces highly conformal iron oxide coatings. According to GT of Atlanta, USA, the replicas possess natural adhesion properties inherited from the spiky pollen particles while demonstrating magnetic behaviour, allowing for tailored adhesion to surfaces. The spikes inherited from the sunflower pollen provide short-range adhesion - over nanoscale distances - while the oxide chemistry provides an adhesion mode that operates over much longer distances - up to one millimetre.