Eduard Arzt

TL;DR: It is shown that the nanocomposites in nature exhibit a generic mechanical structure in which the nanometer size of mineral particles is selected to ensure optimum strength and maximum tolerance of flaws (robustness) and the widely used engineering concept of stress concentration at flaws is no longer valid for nanomaterial design.

TL;DR: In this article, the effects of size on predominantly mechanical properties of materials are reviewed at a first-order level, and important aspects can be understood from the point of view of the interaction of a characteristic length (which may be as diverse as the dislocation radius of curvature at a given stress or the magnetic exchange length) with a size parameter (grain or particle size, or film thickness).

TL;DR: An extensive microscopic study has shown a strong inverse scaling effect in these attachment devices, whereas μm dimensions of the terminal elements of the setae are sufficient for flies and beetles, geckos must resort to sub-μm devices to ensure adhesion.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the size of the seta of a gecko may have been optimized to optimize the adhesive strength and maximum tolerance of imperfect adhesion for robustness.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured the adhesion force exerted by a single gecko spatula for various atmospheric conditions and surface chemistries, and showed that humidity contributes significantly to gecko adhesion on a nanoscopic level.