On July 2, 2026, the winners of the 2025 Shanghai Science and Technology Awards were announced. The joint project led by the Company’s core technical team, titled Key Technologies and Applications for Adhesive Capture of Non-Cooperative Targets in Space, was honored with the First Prize of the Shanghai Technical Invention Award. This achievement demonstrates the team’s innovative capabilities in supporting major aerospace and national defense engineering programs.

Figure 1  The Team’s Project Won the First Prize of the 2025 Shanghai Technical Invention Award

To tackle the difficulties in equipment interface Adhesion & fixation and precision component manipulation under anti-gravity environments, the company’s technical team has devoted itself to the research and development of gecko-inspired bionic materials. In 2019, collaborating with the bionic research group of Kiel University in Germany and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, we jointly founded the gecko bionic material brand Adhesion. Our landmark products cover bionic adhesive pads, bionic friction pads, gecko tape, bionic skin and more. These products have been deployed on China’s Mengtian Experimental Module and the Shenzhou series manned space missions, and have been mass-produced and applied in the optoelectronics, semiconductor and automation industries, resolving the challenges of interfacial mechanical manipulation in the anti-gravity and Z-axis directions.

The company’s offerings fall into two categories: B2B and consumer-facing (C2C). B2B products serve industries including optoelectronics, semiconductors, robotics and automated equipment. The lineup features high-temperature-resistant adhesive consumables for glass vacuum coating processes, physical suction cups for display panel bonding, and bionic friction pads adopted in wafer transmission procedures. Consumer products consist of gecko tape, wearable sports gear, bionic skin for embodied robots, skin-friendly interfacial materials for medical use, and other items. 

Figure 2 Bionic friction pads dedicated to anti-slip transmission of wafers, glass and other workpieces

Figure 3 A full range of bionic surface & interface products including gecko tape, bionic adhesive pads and physical suction cups

To meet the demands of weightlessness protection in the aerospace sector, the team applied bionic Adhesion technology to astronauts' weightlessness prevention exercise aboard space stations in 2022 and developed a series of bionic adhesive shoes. As cutting-edge hidden technology supporting daily life in space, the products have undergone application effect verification during the Shenzhou-15, Shenzhou-16 and Shenzhou-17 missions. They are now deployed by crews on the Shenzhou-20 mission and subsequent flights, addressing the challenge of lower extremity flexor muscle training for astronauts. The equipment enables astronauts to carry out workouts while performing on-orbit tasks, serving as vital specialized gear for mitigating physiological deterioration caused by weightlessness.

In 2022, the bionic adhesive panels developed by the team were launched and installed on China’s Mengtian Experimental Module, fulfilling the requirements for fixing and manipulating components under microgravity conditions and improving the safety of payload operations in such environments.

Furthermore, in collaboration with aerospace and national defense authorities, the team has explored the application of gecko bionic technology in engineering fields such as bionic wall-climbing robots, bionic target capture and force-controlled sensing. This work bears practical significance, as the distinctive bionic industry underpins technological innovation for national defense equipment.

Figure 4 The bionic adhesive shoes developed by the team are applied in the field of weightlessness protection equipment for China's manned spaceflight program

The team runs an advanced R&D center for gecko-inspired bionic materials (Nanjing Adhesion Technology Co., Ltd.). It has also built standardized mass-production plants covering a total area of over 5,000 square meters in Shaoxing (Zhejiang Fanli New Materials Technology Co., Ltd.) and Xuzhou (Xuzhou Juli New Materials Technology Co., Ltd.), providing nearly 50 local jobs.

Led by the technical team, the national standard GB/T 47233-2026 Test Method for Adhesion Properties of Bionic Dry Adhesive Materials has been formulated. Centered on gecko bionic technology, the enterprise has established a comprehensive intellectual property system as well as the ISO9001 quality management system.

The series of bionic surface and interface materials developed by the company satisfy the demands of Adhesion and friction regulation between solid interfaces, raising the yield rate and process automation level of related products. Its products have been supplied in batches to leading enterprises engaged in optoelectronics, semiconductor equipment, industrial automation, robotic skin, functional end effectors and other sectors.

Figure 5 Adhesion Bionic Technology R&D Center & Standardized Mass-production Cleanroom Factory

Though the road is long, progress will get us there. Relying on the microscopic structures on its feet, the gecko climbs across all tangible heights and spatial dimensions. Though the task is tough, perseverance will lead to success. Going forward, the Adhesion team will keep focusing on gecko-inspired bionics, bring together interdisciplinary talents, and build a pioneering distinctive brand integrating industry, university and research. We will empower the R&D and manufacturing of national core equipment with gecko bionic technology, and deliver superior products to thousands of households.