How Do Geckos Stay Clean

in the Dusty Desert?

Stephan Henry,
Thomas Boyer,
Shih Wen Chen

Gecko Background
-

Box patterned gecko (Lucasium steindachneri)

Southern Australia

Spinules (small hairs)

Gecko skin
-

Keratin
- Makes up human
hair and skin

Small Hairs
- Hydrophobic

Preparation for skin samples

-

Live specimens captured outside the lab

Heated plastic enclosed environments
Oils completely removed after shedding
Euthanized, then skin surgically peeled
Sputter coated with platinum (7- 9 nm)

Experimental Procedure
-

Scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Condensation experiments

Contamination experiments using silica and

polymethylmethacrylate

Droplet formation and dynamics (Nikon digital camera)

Water propulsion
-

Direct self-propulsion I
Laterally projected droplets II
Impacting small droplets (fog) III
External environment force (gravity, wind) IV

Direct self-propulsion
-

Merging of two or more droplets

Size of droplet

Energy released by the droplet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXgPXQr40k

Laterally projected droplets

-

Propelled along the surface of the skin

Large droplets - momentum

Skin topography

Lotus effect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfrH7T1Nm5Q

Impacting small droplets

-

Contact with two stationary surface droplets

in close proximity to each other

Slow velocity (kinetic energy)

Fog

Surface energy

Volume of stationary droplets

External environment force

-

Environment forces (gravity, wind)

Skinair interface

Extremely small droplets

PMMA
-

Polymethylmethacrylate

Test cleansing properties

In Conclusion
Through dense hydrophobic nanoscale spinules, geckos are able to
remove dew and contaminants from their skin. Can this characteristic
be used to remove contaminants in manufacturing? Extensive research
in this area is still incomplete, and applications for this characteristic
may need further study.

Reference
-

Watson GS, Schwarzkopf L, Cribb BW, Myhra S, Gellender M, Watson JA. Removal mechanisms of dew via
self-propulsion off the gecko skin. J. R. Soc.Interface http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2014.1396

Questions?