vanced Materials" documents only data for using Geckskin on glass, Crosby says his team has also successfully tested the material on other surfaces like metal, wood, and drywall.
Still in question is the length of time that Geckskin can maintain its grip. Crosby donated his own 42-inch flat-panel television for a duration test, in which his assistants watched a full-length baseball game. A 3-hour stint is impressive, but that's not exactly enough data to up-end the television wall-mounting market.
"We've had something hang for several months," Crosby says. "In terms of hanging something that's 100 pounds [for an extended duration], we just haven't done that testing yet. Some of that is beyond the kind of testing that a university is going to do and it's going to be up to whoever is going to commercialize this. We've hung objects long enough that we're quite confident in Geckskin, but we just don't know the limits."
Is it conceivable that a theoretical Geckskin wall mount would support a television for 10 years? "I think that we can reach that," Crosby says, "but it's still in research."
Crosby isn't naming the companies that might commercialize Geckskin because of ongoing negotiations. He says among them are "certain large companies that most people would recognize as being interested in a product like this."
For an idea of what companies those might be, you might look to the Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC), an industry trade group that counts 3M, Dow Chemical, Avery Dennison, and Illinois Tool Works among its membership.
"The concept behind the gecko is kind of the holy grail of adhesives," says ASC president Matt Croson. "It's a small animal that can hold a lot of weight." Croson also pointed to the gecko's ability to seemingly turn its adhesion powers on and off. "It sticks, and then it doesn't." Adhesion scientists find those characteristics very appealing.
In addition to large corporate partners, Crosby has also been in touch with private investors interested in Geckskin. "They are looking at this as opening new markets. It has a lot of properties that are just not seen in today's materials, so it's kind of fun." Asked what that properties might be, Crosby declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing discussions.
Crosby is also unsure how much a consumer might pay for a Geckskin product, but it doesn't sound like it will be that expensive to manufacture. "Right now we estimate that at least the materials costs are under 25 cents for a pad to hold something about 700 pounds. That's small scale production, but not including labor."
The 700-pound capacity design is constructed with materials like carbon fiber and Kevlar. Crosby says they also have a design using more affordable nylon like that used in a school backpack.
"The materials that this technology works with are things that are found in bathroom caulking and things that we found at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Now the things that we found at Jo-Ann Fabrics can hold 200 to 300 pounds. It doesn't hold 700 pounds. But still, a 200-pound [capacity] pad with something you can buy at Target isn't bad."
So when will you be able to purchase a Geckskin product?
"We're marching along. We would hope that there would be some kind of product or commercial application by the end of next year. In terms of whether you see it hanging a 42-inch TV by next year, that's unlikely. There's going to have to be more testing for duration. But for certain products I think it can come out pretty quickly. It holds with pretty good confidence from what we've seen."