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Posted: September 24, 2007

Vulvox Develops Composites That Maintain The Sticky Properties of Carbon Nanotubes

(Nanowerk News) Recently, the Scientific World has seen a number of articles published about a brand new type of adhesive made from carbon nanotubes. It mimics the adhesive found on gecko feet. That lizard is able to climb on walls and ceilings up tree trunks etc. by means of the sticky hairs on its' feet.
They were able to synthesize tape with nanotubes stuck to it that adhered to objects temporarily. That adhesive was made by a complicated process of patterning catalysts onto a substrate using photolithography, similar to the process used to manufacture circuitry on computer chips. It was noted that the material might have uses such as fastening objects on the International Space Station, in high vacuum environments or in electronic devices or in high temperature uses where regular glues would burn up.
The Vulvox ( discovery will eliminate the necessity of using photolithography to make nanotubes in tufts patterns, bringing the potential cost down tremendously. We can take nanotubes off the shelf and after mechanically processing them we obtain solid objects that possess adhesive properties like the nanotube tapes discovered at RPI.
Vulvox President Neil Farbstein stated that "Vulvox made two discoveries this year; first we discovered a new genetic sequence that primes the reverse transcriptase reaction that might have applications in genetic diagnostic tests or in molecular genetics. And we discovered the adhesive properties of the nanotube material this week. We will work on developing composites that maintain those sticky properties on their surface. And there are indications that the adhesion might be increased in magnitude through a number of manipulations."
Source: Vulvox Nanobiotechnology Corporation