Barnacles Create Adhesives in Water

Function

The adhesives we normally use only function in the air, even when binding objects to glass. Adhesives fail once they are submerged in water because the water is able to adhere to glass much more powerfully than our adhesives can. Barnacles, however, are able to attach themselves to various underwater surfaces, such as the bottoms of ships or ropes. Many people think they are annoying because they stick to anything, but they are quite remarkable for their ability to adhere firmly to any kind of surface, even under water, and to keep their viscosity even after death. This adhesive ability has recently caught our attention, and is being used to develop water-resistant adhesive materials, as well as processes for bonding together different materials that are under water.

Functional Classification

Defense/Stability:
AbsorptionAdhesion

Environmental Solution Classification

Related Literature

Kei Kamino, Underwater Adhesive of Marine Organisms as the Vital Link Between Bioloigical Science and Material Science, Mar Biotechnol, 10, 111-121, 2008

Technical Application

Products and Services

Type of Business

Proposals of Applied Technology

Further studies of barnacles’ adhesion ability can lead to the development of new water-resistant adhesives, including artificial viscosity, and adhesives that bond to varying surfaces of different materials. This will improve adhesion technology in numerous fields. In medicine, barnacles’ powerful viscosity can be used to develop new dental implant treatments that attach artificial teeth. Because barnacles’ viscosity is maintained in both salt and fresh water, its mechanisms can be applied outside of the field of biology, such as in the development of adhesives for electronic components in electronic engineering.

Proposals of Applied Industry

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