Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T14:29:07.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mimicking water striders’ legs superhydrophobicity and buoyancy with cabbage leaves and nanotube carpets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2013

Emiliano Lepore ,
Mauro Giorcelli ,
Chiara Saggese ,
Alberto Tagliaferro  and
Nicola Pugno
Emiliano Lepore
Affiliation:
Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering, Laboratory of Bio-inspired Nanomechanics “Giuseppe Maria Pugno”, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Mauro Giorcelli
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Chiara Saggese
Affiliation:
Chemistry, Material and Chemical Engineering Department “Giulio Natta” (CMIC), Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Alberto Tagliaferro
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Nicola Pugno*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, I-38123 Trento, Italy
*
a)Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: nicola.pugno@unitn.it
Get access

Abstract

In this work, we have studied the superhydrophobicity and buoyancy of two types of nanostructured surfaces: the cabbage leaf and a vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) carpet. The wettability of these surfaces were characterized by contact angle, tilting angle, sliding volume and sliding speed measurements. The results were correlated to the related surface topologies, which were investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Buoyancy of different surfaces has been investigated through measurements of the forces acting on the surface. Finally, we demonstrate that cabbage leaves and VACNT carpets have some common features with the water strider’s leg, better understanding the mechanisms of buoyancy related to the structural shape and size of natural or artificial nanostructures.

Keywords

superhydrophobicitybuoyancycarbon nanotubes
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 28 , Issue 7: Focus Issue: De Novo Carbon Nanomaterials: Opportunities and Challenges in a Flat World , 14 April 2013 , pp. 976 - 983
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Sun, T., Feng, L., Gao, X., and Jiang, L.: Bioinspired surfaces with special wettability. Acc. Chem. Res. 38(8), 644 (2005).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhushan, B. and Jung, Y.C.: Wetting, adhesion and friction of superhydrophobic and hydrophilic leaves and fabricated micro/nanopatterned surfaces. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 20(24), 225010 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nosonovsky, M. and Bhushan, B.: Superhydrophobic surfaces and emerging applications: Non-adhesion, energy, green engineering. Curr. Opin. Colloid Interface Sci. 14(20), 270 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhushan, B., Jung, Y.C., and Koch, K.: Micro-, nano- and hierarchical structures for superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning and low adhesion. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 367(41), 1631 (2009).Google ScholarPubMed
Koch, K., Bhushan, B., and Barthlott, W.: Multifunctional surface structures of plants: An inspiration for biomimetics. Prog. Mater. Sci. 54(41), 137 (2009).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pugno, N.M.: Towards a Spiderman suit: Large invisible cables and self-cleaning releasable superadhesive materials. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 19(17), 395001 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayre, M.: Biomimicry – A Review, Work Package Report (European Space Research & Technology Centre, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 2003).Google Scholar
Barthlott, W.: Epidermal and seed surface characters of plants: Systematic applicability and some evolutionary aspects. Nord. J. Bot. 1(10), 345 (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neinhuis, C. and Barthlott, W.: Characterization and distribution of water-repellent, self-cleaning plant surfaces. Ann. Bot. 79(10), 667 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, J.W.M. and Hu, D.L.: Walking on water: Biolocomotion at the interface. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 38(40), 339 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, J.W.M., Hu, D.L., and Prakash, M.: The integument of water-walking arthropods: Form and function. Adv. Insect Physiol. 34(72), 117 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feng, L., Li, S., Li, Y., Li, H., Zhang, L., Zhai, J., Song, Y., Liu, B., Jiang, L., and Zhu, D.: Super-hydrophobic surfaces: From natural to artificial. Adv. Mater. 14(3), 1857 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakajima, A., Hashimoto, K., and Watanabe, T.: Recent studies on super-hydrophobic films. Monatsh. Chem. 132(10), 31 (2001).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, Y.C. and Bhushan, B.: Mechanically durable carbon nanotube composite hierarchical structures with superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning, and low-drag. ACS Nano 3(8), 4155 (2009).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wenzel, R.N.: Resistance of solid surfaces to wetting by water. Ind. Eng. Chem. 28(6), 988 (1936).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassie, A.B.D. and Baxter, S.: Wettability of porous surfaces. Trans. Faraday Soc. 40(5), 546 (1944).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quéré, D.: Wetting and roughness. Ann. Rev. Mater. Res. 38(28), 71–99 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, Y., Ji, B., Zhang, K., Gao, H., Huang, Y., and Hwang, K.: Nano to micro structural hierarchy is crucial for stable superhydrophobic and water-repellent surfaces. Langmuir 26(5), 4984 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nosonovsky, M. and Bhushan, B.: Hierarchical roughness optimization for biomimetic superhydrofobic surfaces. Ultramicroscopy 107(10), 969 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nishino, T., Meguro, M., Nakamae, K., Matsushita, M., and Ueda, Y.: The lowest surface free energy based on –CF3 alignment. Langmuir 15(3), 4321 (1999).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lepore, E. and Pugno, N.: Superhydrophobic polystyrene by direct copy of a lotus leaf. BioNanoScience 1(7), 136 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakajima, A., Abe, K., Hashimoto, K., and Watanabe, T.: Preparation of hard super-hydrophobic films with visible light transmission. Thin Solid Films 376(3), 140 (2000).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, Z. and Liu, W.: Biomimic from the superhydrophobic plant leaves in nature: Binary structure and unitary structure. Plant Sci. 172(9), 1103 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, T., Wang, G., Liu, H., Feng, L., Jiang, L., and Zhu, D.: Control over the wettability of an aligned carbon nanotube film. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125(3), 14996 (2003).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jin, H., Kettunen, M., Laiho, A., Pynneonen, H., Paltakari, J., Marmur, A., Ikkala, O., and Ras, R.H.A.: Superhydrophobic and superoleophobic nanocellulose aerogel membranes as bioinspired cargo carriers on water and oil. Langmuir 27(4), 1930 (2011).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pan, Q., Liu, J., and Zhu, Q.: A water strider-like model with large and stable loading capacity fabricated from superhydrophobic copper foils. App. Mat. Inter. 2(4), 2026 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, X., Zhao, J., Zhu, Q., Chen, N., Zhang, M., and Pan, Q.: Bioinspired aquatic microrobot capable of walking on water surface like a water strider. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 3(6), 2630 (2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wu, X. and Shi, G.: Production and characterization of stable superhydrophobic surfaces based on copper hydroxide nanoneedles mimicking the legs of water striders. J. Phys. Chem. B 110(5), 11247 (2006).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jiang, L., Yao, X., Li, H., Fu, Y., Chen, L., Meng, Q., Hu, W., and Jiang, L.: Water strider legs with a self-assembled coating of single-crystalline nanowires of an organic semiconductor. Adv. Mater. 22(3), 376 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koch, K., Bhushan, B., and Barthlott, W.: Diversity of structure, morphology and wetting of plant surfaces. Soft Matter 4(20), 1943 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavese, M., Musso, S., Bianco, S., Giorcelli, M., and Pugno, N.: An analysis of carbon nanotube structure wettability before and after oxidation treatment. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 20(7), 474206 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koch, K., Bohn, H.F., and Barthlott, W.: Hierarchically sculptured plant surfaces and superhydrophobicity. Langmuir 25(4), 14116 (2009).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, J., Huang, X., Li, Y., Li, Z., Chi, Q., and Li, G.: Formation of hierarchical CuO microcabbages as stable bionic superhydrophobic materials via a room-temperature solution-immersion process. Solid State Sci. 10(8), 1568 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lepore, E., Faraldi, P., Boarino, L., and Pugno, N.: Plasma and thermoforming treatments to tune the bio-inspired wettability of polystyrene. Composites Part B 43(9), 681 (2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feng, X., Gao, X., Wu, Z., Jiang, L., and Zheng, Q.: Superior water repellency of water strider legs with hierarchical structures: Experiments and analysis. Langmuir 23(4), 4892 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, S.M., Jung, I.D., and Ko, J.S.: The effect of the surface wettability of nanoprotrusions formed on network-type microstructures. J. Micromech. Microeng. 18(7), 125007 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeo, J., Choi, M.J., and Kim, D.S.: Robust hydrophobic surfaces with various micropillar arrays. J. Micromech. Microeng. 20(8), 025028 (2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, S.M.: Peirce’s criterion for the elimination of suspect experimental data. J. Eng. Technol. 20(3), 38 (2003).Google Scholar
Shi, F., Niu, J., Liu, J., Liu, F., Wang, Z., Feng, X., and Zhang, X.: Towards understanding why a superhydrophobic coating is needed by water striders. Adv. Mater. 19(4), 2257 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar