Researchers have developed a special glue which they claim can hold 700 pounds on a smooth wall, after discovering how geckos produce an adhesive force equivalent to carrying nine pounds up a wall without slipping.

A team at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has published its findings on the 'Advanced Materials' journal.

"Amazingly, gecko feet can be applied and disengaged with ease, and with no sticky residue remaining on the surface," said team member Duncan Irschick, a morphologist who studied the gecko's climbing and clinging abilities for over 20 years.

These properties, high-capacity, reversibility and dry adhesion offer a tantalising possibility for synthetic materials that caneasily attach and detach heavy everyday objects such as televisions or computers to walls, as well as medical and industrial applications, among others, he said.

"This combination of properties at these scales has never been achieved before. Our Geckskin device is about 16 inches square, about the size of an index card, and can hold a maximum force of about 700 pounds while adhering to a smooth surface such as glass," Alfred Crosby, team member, said.

Beyond its impressive sticking ability, the device can be released with negligible effort and reused many times with no loss of effectiveness, the 'ScienceDaily' reported.

The team developed the glue after unlocking the simple yet elegant secret of the lizards produce an adhesive force roughly equivalent to carrying nine pounds up a wall.

"It's a concept that has not been considered in other design strategies and one that may open up new research avenues in gecko-like adhesion in the future," Crosby said.

As in natural gecko feet, the skin is woven into a synthetic "tendon", yielding a design that plays a key role in maintaining stiffness and rotational freedom, the researchers have said.