Tree frogs could hold key to new self-cleaning bandages, long- lasting glues and grippier tyres

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Hanging on: Orange thighed Tree Frog, Litoria chloris, in the Lamington National Park, Queensland, Australia, has a secret to its foothold


The biology of tree frogs could provide us with tyres that literally stick to the road, according to a Scottish academic.

'Tree frog feet may provide a design for self-cleaning sticky surfaces, which could be useful for a wide range of products especially in contaminating environments - medical bandages, tyre performance, and even long lasting adhesives,' Niall Crawford told the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow.

But although it has been known for a long time that tree frogs had sticky feet covered in mucus, the secret of how they keep them sticky has only just been discovered in the laboratory.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow placed the frogs on a tilting, rotatable platform to measure the angles at which the frogs lost their grip.

Adding dust caused them to slip sooner, but the frogs would take a few steps and regain their footing.

That ability to clean their feet so quickly, which scientists now understand, could lead to new self-cleaning surfaces and adhesives.


Key grip: The microstructure of the pads on the frog's toes allows it to stick like glue


'When the frogs did not move the adhesive forces recovered much more slowly,' said study researcher Niall Crawford at the University of Glasgow.

'Interestingly the same factors that allow tree frogs to cling on also provide a self-cleaning service. To make their feet sticky tree frogs secrete mucus.

'They can then increase their adhesion by moving their feet against the surface to create friction.

'We have now shown that the mucus combined with this movement allows the frogs to clean their feet as they walk,' Crawford said.

'Just taking a step enables frogs to clean their feet and restore their adhesion ability.'

The White's tree frogs he used also have tiny hexagonal patterns on their feet, which allow some parts of the pad to remain in contact with the surface and create friction, while the channels between allow the mucus to spread throughout the pad.

This mucus at once allows the frog to stick and then, when they move, also carries away any dirt.

If this can be translated into a man-made design it could provide a re-useable, effective adhesive

source: dailymail