Surface Nanoengineering Inspired by Evolution

Abstract

Through evolution, nature has optimised structures and materials with a hierarchy from the macro-to the nanoscale. Biological materials are very sophisticated in the way they solve challenges associated with life. Some properties of commercial interest found in nature are selfcleaning, aerodynamic lift, anti-adhesion, water harvesting, water-floating and staying dry. Biomimetics, to learn from nature, has been used for centuries to create new innovative devices. With the use of "nanotools", it is possible to design hierarchical surface structures with exceptional functional properties. In this paper, an overview of interesting surface properties with biomimetic potential, strategies for nanomanipulation of surfaces, potential industrial applications and the potential of using atomistic modelling to optimise surface structuring are discussed.

Design and fabrication of a large-area superhydrophobic metal surface with anti-icing properties engineered using a top-down approach

“…Superhydrophobicity is an anti-icing strategy that exploits the water repellency and low adhesion of water droplets. Dynamic droplet-freezing experiments have been carried out on various engineered surface geometries including posts, bricks, blades, and honeycombs to analyze the antiicing properties of droplets under supercooled conditions [4,16]. Cao et al studied the anti-icing properties of superhydrophobic coatings prepared using nanoparticle-polymer composites, and found that the icing depended not only on the superhydrophobicity, but also on the size of the surface features [17,18].…”

“…There have been a number of investigations into the anti-icing properties of biomimetic surfaces [4,5,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19], but bio-inspired engineered structures cannot guarantee optimal hydrophobicity. To optimize hydrophobicity, Bhushan et al reported a study of patterned Si surfaces with cylindrical pillars of various diameters, heights, and pitches to investigate the dependence of the wettability upon the geometrical parameters [20,21] aspects of anti-icing surfaces, but material issues must also been addressed for practical applications in harsh environments, and mechanical stresses due to ice detachment during the icing/deicing cycle must be overcome [12,22].…”

Morphologies and Thermal Variability of Patterned Polymer Films with Poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride)

“…For other applications, it was found that the roughness affects the contact angles in a more direct way as estimated by the Wenzel model [56] for hydrophobic surfaces. In general, the roughness parameter increases the hydrophobicity on hydrophobic surfaces and augments the hydrophilicity on hydrophilic surfaces [57]. However, these trends could be attributed to the formation of hierarchical micro-to-nanoscale roughness structures that are not present in our case.…”

Collembola cuticles and the three-phase line tension

“…The selection of species by Nickerl et al covered all orders of Collembola (Entomobryomorpha, Poduromorpha, Symphypleona, Neelipleona). In comparison, in our previous study [ 5 ], we selected species from habitats ranging from extremely dry to very wet in order to obtain a wide diversity of Collembola surface structures [ 31 – 32 ]. Since all orders of Collembola and a wide range of surface structures and habitat types are considered in these two studies, it seems likely that the granule area fraction of most Collembola will fall within the two extremes of 0.111 to 0.709.…”