Atomic Force Microscopy Study of Ivy Climbing Mechanism

This paper presents our recent discovery on ivy climbing mechanism and proposes a potential biology inspired climbing mechanism for nano-applications. Using atomic force microscope (AFM), we observed ivy secrets nanoparticles through adhering disks of the aerial rootlets to affix to a surface. The study suggests that nanoparticles play a direct role for ivy surface climbing. Weak adhesion and hydrogen bonding seem to be the forces for the climbing mechanism. This ivy secretion mechanism may inspire new methods for synthesizing nanoparticles biologically or new approaches to adhesion mechanisms for nano applications.