Abstract: Gecko has the ability to climb fl exibly on various natural surfaces because of its fi ne layered adhesion system of foot, which 
has motivated researchers to carry out a lot of researches on it. Signifi cant progresses have been made in the gecko-like dry 
adhesive surfaces in the past 2 decades, such as the mechanical measurement of adhesive characteristics, the theoretical 
modeling of adhesive mechanism and the production of synthetic dry adhesive surfaces. Relevant application researches 
have been carried out as well. This paper focuses on the investigations made in recent years on the gecko-like dry adhesive 
surfaces, so as to lay the foundation for further research breakthroughs. First, the adhesion system of gecko’s foot and its 
excellent adhesive characteristics are reviewed, and the adhesive models describing the gecko adhesion are summarily 
reviewed according to the diff erent contact modes. Then, some gecko-like dry adhesive surfaces with outstanding adhesive 
characteristics are presented. Next, some application researches based on the gecko-like dry adhesive surfaces are introduced. 
Finally, the full text is summarized and the problems to be solved on the gecko-like dry adhesive surfaces are prospected.

Key words: Gecko adhesion, Gecko-like dry adhesive surfaces, Climbing robot, Robot gripper, Medical adhesive tape