How micro/nanoarchitecture facilitates anti-wetting: an elegant hierarchical design on the termite wing

ACS Nano
Gregory S WatsonJolanta A Watson

Abstract

The termite is an insect which is a weak flier, has a large wing area in relation to its body mass, and many species typically fly during rain or storm periods. Water droplets placed on these insects' wings will spontaneously roll off the surface. Here we show how the intricate hierarchical array design of these insect wings achieves anti-wetting properties with water bodies of various sizes by reducing contact area and thus adhesion. To repel large droplets, the termite uses an array of hairs with a specially designed nanoarchitecture, which we demonstrate is critical for this function. By coating single hairs with a polymer of varying thicknesses (with a similar hydrophobicity to insect cuticle), we demonstrate that hairs of the same chemistry and with the complete nanoarchitecture show the greatest resistance to penetrating water bodies. The wings also consist of an underlying non-wetting membrane substructure comprising an array of star-shaped microstructures which minimize interaction with micro-sized droplets of water. The sophisticated micro/nanostructured hierarchy on the termite wing membrane not only results in non-wetting at different length scales but also demonstrates a design for weight and material minimization w...Continue Reading

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Citations

Apr 16, 2011·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Hiroyuki Matsukizono, Ren-Hua Jin
Mar 9, 2012·Nanoscale Research Letters·Juan Francisco González MartínezJaime Colchero
Sep 4, 2014·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Song Ha NguyenElena P Ivanova
Feb 22, 2014·Advances in Colloid and Interface Science·Hayden K WebbElena P Ivanova
Jan 18, 2016·Micron : the International Research and Review Journal for Microscopy·Rakkiyappan ChandranDennis LaJeunesse
May 8, 2013·Journal of Colloid and Interface Science·Elena CeliaFrédéric Guittard
Feb 26, 2013·Colloids and Surfaces. B, Biointerfaces·Song Ha T NguyenElena P Ivanova
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Feb 6, 2013·Advanced Materials·Thierry DarmaninFrederic Guittard
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Feb 16, 2011·Biophysical Journal·Jolanta A WatsonGregory S Watson
Jul 16, 2013·Micron : the International Research and Review Journal for Microscopy·Adam BosemanDennis Lajeunesse
Feb 28, 2013·Biophysical Journal·Sergey PogodinElena P Ivanova
Mar 13, 2015·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Gregory S WatsonJolanta A Watson
Mar 19, 2014·Biofouling·Gregory S WatsonJolanta A Watson
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Dec 14, 2011·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Ludmila B BoinovichYoke Khin Yap
Sep 16, 2016·Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·Quan XuZhenhai Xia
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Apr 6, 2011·Bioinspiration & Biomimetics·Mingxia SunJolanta A Watson
Oct 22, 2020·Scientific Reports·Nathan B SpeirsSigurdur T Thoroddsen
Feb 25, 2011·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Hsuan-Ming S HuJolanta A Watson
Jan 10, 2019·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Xuelian Gou, Zhiguang Guo
Feb 24, 2011·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Hiroyuki Mayama, Yoshimune Nonomura
Nov 23, 2018·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Hannu Teisala, Hans-Jürgen Butt
Jul 8, 2019·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Jafar HasanPrasad K D V Yarlagadda

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