Studies on Adhesion Mechanism from Marine Animals –Search for Adhesive Materials and their Application–

Abstract

There are many animals which attach some substrates and do not move in the sea (sessile marine animals), whereas most of land animals are free moving animals. The barnacles and ascidians which are one of the research materials of the authors are representative sessile marine animals. For human being, sessile marine animals often become the harm. The study of material and the chemical substance to prevent it is extensively conducted. On the other hand, the property to adhere quickly and stably underwater is the characteristic that is not found in existing adhesives, and it can become the key for developing new ‘biomimetic’ adhesives or materials for novel surface/interface structure. Here in this report we summarize recent advances on barnacles and ascidians as representative marine sessile animals and also mention about the quick attachment and detachment by sea urchin and starfish for moving using adhesion, giving some comments on the present conditions of the studies on adhesion mechanism and the prospects for the future application development.