Scientists at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, are looking to the natural world to find a way to safely remove dust from works of art. Inspired by electrostatic charges on the feet of geckos that enable the lizards to cling to walls, staff have developed a technique for removing dust particles that measure less than ten micrometres. It involves tapping the work with a sheet made from a non-sticky polymer that produces enough electrostatic charge to remove the debris. The results of the research were published in April in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
