Bioinspired passive anti-biofouling surfaces preventing biofilm formation.

Biofilm formation enables bacteria to grow under unfavorable conditions, provides them with protection, and increases their resistance to antimicrobial agents. Once a biofilm has formed, it is difficult, and in some systems, impossible to treat. Strategies based on the release of biocidal agents have shown only transient efficiency.

Insect attachment on crystalline bioinspired wax surfaces formed by alkanes of varying chain lengths.

The impeding effect of plant surfaces covered with three-dimensional wax on attachment and locomotion of insects has been shown previously in numerous experimental studies. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of different parameters of crystalline wax coverage on insect attachment. We performed traction experiments with the beetle Coccinella septempunctata and pull-off force measurements with artificial adhesive systems (tacky polydimethylsiloxane semi-spheres) on bioinspired wax surfaces formed by four alkanes of varying chain lengths (C36H74, C40H82, C44H90, and C50H102).

Three-dimensional triple hierarchy formed by self-assembly of wax crystals on CuO nanowires for nonwettable surfaces.

Novel hierarchical surfaces combining paraffin wax crystals and CuO nanowires are presented. We demonstrate a bioinspired hierarchical wax on nanowire (NW) structures having high water and ethylene glycol repellence. In general, vertically grown nanowire arrays can provide a superhydrophobic surface (SHS) due to extremely high surface roughness but cannot repel ethylene glycol.

An artificial biomineral formed by incorporation of copolymer micelles in calcite crystals.

Biominerals exhibit morphologies, hierarchical ordering and properties that invariably surpass those of their synthetic counterparts. A key feature of these materials, which sets them apart from synthetic crystals, is their nanocomposite structure, which derives from intimate association of organic molecules with the mineral host. We here demonstrate the production of artificial biominerals where single crystals of calcite occlude a remarkable 13 wt% of 20 nm anionic diblock copolymer micelles, which act as 'pseudo-proteins'.