Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• important difference between adhesion in terrestrial and aquatic systems. Nevertheless, there are exceptions. Some terrestrial animals can step in droplets, e.g., on plant surfaces or even be completely submerged under water for a short time due to heavy rainfall. For example, the beetle Gastrophysa

From sticky to slippery: Biological and biologically-inspired adhesion and friction

• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1450–1451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.157

• of cells, insect feet, snake skin, plant traps, and bird wings are just a few striking examples of a tremendous diversity of biological surfaces and systems with remarkable contact behavior about many of which our knowledge is limited compared to medically relevant biotribosystems. Since the 90s a

Liquid fuel cells

• Grigorii L. Soloveichik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1399–1418, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.153

• or chemically at a central plant). In the latter case, the fuel cells can be recharged by using the existing infrastructure for the delivery of liquid fuels. The theoretical open circuit potential (OCP) of electrochemical cells based on the reaction in Equation 7 is in the range of 1.06–1.11 V if the

• Glycerol as a nontoxic fuel for fuel cells was proposed in 1964 [107]. Glycerol is the major product in biodiesel production by transesterification of plant oils and animal fats. Although it is used as a raw material in the chemical industry and animal feed, its market is saturated thus limiting the

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

• Elena Gorb,
• Sandro Böhm,
• Nadine Jacky,
• Louis-Philippe Maier,
• Kirstin Dening,
• Sasha Pechook,
• Boaz Pokroy and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1031–1041, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.116

• Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel 10.3762/bjnano.5.116 Abstract The impeding effect of plant surfaces covered with three-dimensional wax on attachment and locomotion of insects has been shown previously in numerous

• attachment and higher pull-off forces of polydimethylsiloxane probes on wax surfaces having a higher density of wax coverage, created by smaller crystals. Keywords: Coccinella septempunctata; insect–plant interactions; plant waxes; pull-off force; traction force; Introduction During their locomotion

• between plants and insects, plants have developed surfaces that enable pollinators and symbiotic insects to attach to and walk on, as well as surface structures that reduce insect attachment [11]. The impeding effects of plant surfaces on insect attachment ability depend on the concrete plant–insect

Measuring air layer volumes retained by submerged floating-ferns Salvinia and biomimetic superhydrophobic surfaces

• Matthias J. Mayser,
• Holger F. Bohn,
• Meike Reker and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 812–821, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.93

• Matthias J. Mayser Holger F. Bohn Meike Reker Wilhelm Barthlott Microfluidics Lab, GRASP, University of Liege, Chemin des Chevreuils 1, 4000 Liege, Belgium Nees-Institute for Biodiversity of Plants, University Bonn, Venusbergweg 22, 53115 Bonn, Germany Plant Biomechanics Group Freiburg, University

• structured, superhydrophobic, self-cleaning plant surfaces (Lotus-effect) [1][2] there has been an increasing interest in superhydrophobic surfaces [3][4][5]. Superhydrophobicity describes the extreme repellence of water by a surface. The level of water repellence is usually described by the contact angle

• applications for these trapped air layers in the Cassie wetting regime have been proposed which include drag reducing ship coatings or fluid channels [22][23][24][25][26] with the capability of 30% drag reduction [27] and could provide high economic and ecologic value [28][29]. While superhydrophobic plant

The surface microstructure of cusps and leaflets in rabbit and mouse heart valves

• Xia Ye,
• Bharat Bhushan,
• Ming Zhou and
• Weining Lei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 622–629, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.73

• plant leaves have been studied beginning with the lotus leaf [1][2][3]. Researchers then studied the microstructures of the India canna leaf, the rice leaf, and the leaf of Colocasia esculenta [4][5]. Subsequently, the study of surface microstructures expanded to animals. Researchers studied surface

Applicability and costs of nanofiltration in combination with photocatalysis for the treatment of dye house effluents

• Wolfgang M. Samhaber and
• Minh Tan Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 476–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.55

• attributed to the membrane replacement costs, which directly depend on the required membrane area and therefore, on the size of the plant that is used for the treatment process. When membrane plants are applied, it is a challenge to keep membrane costs low, because of the frequent need for membrane

• operating costs, as given in Table 1, are between 204 and 408 US$, which is roughly seven times the assumed membrane replacement costs (MRC) of 30 to 60 US$ per m2 of the spirally wound membrane elements used in the focused treatment plant. The estimated figures of fixed and variable costs are empirical

• 200 and 600 L/m2·d or, when calculated for one year, of 40 to 120 m3/(m2·a). Depreciation and maintenance costs incur independently of the operatinal status of the plant. That is, no matter whether or not there is a demand to treat effluents, the periodical CIP is included in the maintenance cost

A catechol biosensor based on electrospun carbon nanofibers

• Dawei Li,
• Zengyuan Pang,
• Xiaodong Chen,
• Lei Luo,
• Yibing Cai and
• Qufu Wei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 346–354, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.39

• fast and effective methods to detect phenolic compounds. Laccase (benzendiol:oxygen oxidoreductases; EC 1.10.3.2), a multicopper oxidase widely distributed in plant and fungal species, can reduce oxygen directly to water through a four-electron transfer step, and this chemical reaction does not produce

Atomic force microscopy recognition of protein A on Staphylococcus aureus cell surfaces by labelling with IgG–Au conjugates

• Elena B. Tatlybaeva,
• Hike N. Nikiyan,
• Alexey S. Vasilchenko and
• Dmitri G. Deryabin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 743–749, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.84

• ]. The mica surface is most commonly used for protein AFM imaging because of its hydrophilic character, its atomically flatness and the high affinity for proteins [28]. Atomic force microscopy imaging Images were collected by using an SMM-2000 atomic force microscope (JSC "Proton-MIET Plant", Russia

Apertureless scanning near-field optical microscopy of sparsely labeled tobacco mosaic viruses and the intermediate filament desmin

• Alexander Harder,
• Mareike Dieding,
• Volker Walhorn,
• Sven Degenhard,
• Andreas Brodehl,
• Christina Wege,
• Hendrik Milting and
• Dario Anselmetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 510–516, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.60

• , Universitätsstrasse 25, D-33615 Bielefeld, Germany Department of Molecular Biology and Plant Virology, Institute of Biology, University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany Erich and Hanna Klessmann Institute for Cardiovascular Research & Development (EHKI), Heart and Diabetes Center NRW, Ruhr

• and might give insight in the patho-mechanism. The tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is a tubular shaped plant virus with a length of 300 nm and a diameter of 18 nm. It is composed of 2130 identical capsid protein subunits helically arranged on a single RNA strand thereby enclosing an inner longitudinal

• channel [25]. Apart from plant research, TMV is also important for nanotechnology applications of virus-derived biotemplates [26][27][28][29]. The self-assembly of the capsid components and the homogeneous nucleoprotein tube diameter make TMV an attractive scaffold for nanotechnological applications such

A nano-graphite cold cathode for an energy-efficient cathodoluminescent light source

• Alexander N. Obraztsov,
• Victor I. Kleshch and
• Elena A. Smolnikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 493–500, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.58

• is a decrease of energy loss on heating only from 95 to 90%. At the same time, production costs for these lamps, i.e. consumption and waste of energy at the production plant, are many times higher compared to the production costs of incandescent bulbs. Thus, the development of new types of light

Mechanical and thermal properties of bacterial-cellulose-fibre-reinforced Mater-Bi^® bionanocomposite

• Hamonangan Nainggolan,
• Saharman Gea,
• Emiliano Bilotti,
• Ton Peijs and
• Sabar D. Hutagalung

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 325–329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.37

• environment. Composites of Mater-Bi with biodegradable fibres, particularly plant cellulose, have been developed. The use of flax cellulose pulp with Mater-Bi produces better mechanical properties and higher thermal stability [4]. Short fibres of sisal added in the range from 5 to 20% have been able to raise

• /matrix interface [6]. Cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls. Some bacteria produce cellulose (celled biocellulose or bacterial cellulose). Plant cellulose and bacterial cellulose (BC) have the same chemical structure, but different physical and chemical properties. BC is produced by

• researchers due to its unique properties, such as high water capacity, high crystallinity, ultrafine fibre networks with a diameter of 20–100 nm, high purity (which is distinguished from plant cellulose), and high tensile strength [7][8][9][10]. The isotropic Young’s modulus of a BC sheet is about 20 GPa [11

Glassy carbon electrodes modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes for the determination of ascorbic acid by square-wave voltammetry

• Sushil Kumar and
• Victoria Vicente-Beckett

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 388–396, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.45

• Sushil Kumar Victoria Vicente-Beckett Central Queensland University, Centre for Plant and Water Science, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia Central Queensland University, Centre for Environmental Management, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia 10.3762/bjnano.3.45 Abstract Multiwalled

Drive-amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy: From vacuum to liquids

• Miriam Jaafar,
• David Martínez-Martín,
• Mariano Cuenca,
• John Melcher,
• Arvind Raman and
• Julio Gómez-Herrero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 336–344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.38

• differential equation that describes the dynamic of a plant (in the present case, the plant is the cantilever). As a consequence, the new transient time can be reduced arbitrarily by changing the feedback gains. This is conveniently illustrated in Figure 4 (see a more detailed discussion in Supporting

Impact of cell shape in hierarchically structured plant surfaces on the attachment of male Colorado potato beetles (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)

• Bettina Prüm,
• Robin Seidel,
• Holger Florian Bohn and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 57–64, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.7

• Bettina Prum Robin Seidel Holger Florian Bohn Thomas Speck Plant Biomechanics Group Freiburg, Botanic Garden, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany Bionics Competence Network BIOKON e. V., Ackerstraße 76, 13355 Berlin, Germany Competence Network

• Biomimetics, Schänzlestraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.3.7 Abstract Plant surfaces showing hierarchical structuring are frequently found in plant organs such as leaves, petals, fruits and stems. In our study we focus on the level of cell shape and on the level of superimposed microstructuring

• plant surfaces possessing convex or papillate cells on insect attachment remains unclear. We performed traction experiments with male Colorado potato beetles on nine different plant surfaces with different structures. The selected plant surfaces showed epidermal cells with either tabular, convex or

Synthesis and catalytic applications of combined zeolitic/mesoporous materials

• Jarian Vernimmen,
• Vera Meynen and
• Pegie Cool

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 785–801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.87

• reducing agent and precursor in fine chemistry. Water and tarlike compounds are the major byproducts. Conversion and selectivity are significantly higher than those achieved by acidic and radical catalysts. Therefore, since 1986, a plant near Ravenna, Italy, is producing 10,000 tons per year of diphenols

• over 90%. Both Enichem as well as Sumitomo Chemical Co. operate such a TS-1 based caprolactam plant. Epoxidation of propylene: Propylene oxide is one of the largest propene derivatives in production, ranking second behind polypropylene, and is primarily used as a reactive chemical intermediate. The

• -Evonik/Headwaters developed a new technology based on the use of aqueous solutions of H2O2 and a fixed-bed TS-1 reactor. At the end of 2008, the largest plant using this new process was started up in Antwerp by BASF/Dow. Although the implementation of TS-1 has been successful, there are still some

Room temperature excitation spectroscopy of single quantum dots

• Christian Blum,
• Frank Schleifenbaum,
• Martijn Stopel,
• Sébastien Peter,
• Marcus Sackrow,
• Vinod Subramaniam and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 516–524, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.56

• Christian Blum Frank Schleifenbaum Martijn Stopel Sebastien Peter Marcus Sackrow Vinod Subramaniam Alfred J. Meixner Nanobiophysics Group and MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands Center for Plant Molecular Biology, Biophysical

The effect of surface anisotropy in the slippery zone of Nepenthes alata pitchers on beetle attachment

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 302–310, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.35

• Elena V. Gorb Stanislav N. Gorb Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1–9, D-24098 Kiel, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.2.35 Abstract The slippery zone in pitchers of the carnivorous plant Nepenthes alata bears scattered

• contributions, from claw interlocking and pad adhesion, to insect attachment on the pitcher surfaces, intact versus claw-ablated beetles were used in the second type of experiment. On both de-waxed plant samples and their replicas, intact insects generated much higher forces in the downward direction compared

• downward pitcher direction, since, in this direction, they could interlock with overhanging edges of lunate cells. Keywords: adhesive pads; claws; Coccinella septempunctata; insect–plant interactions; traction force; Introduction Pitcher-shaped trapping organs produced at the tips of tendrils are

Recrystallization of tubules from natural lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) wax on a Au(111) surface

• Sujit Kumar Dora and
• Klaus Wandelt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 261–267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.30

• HOPG, the tubules lie flat on Au(111). Taking into account the physical properties of HOPG and Au(111), we put forward a hypothesis which can explain the different tubule orientations on both substrates. Keywords: AFM; Au(111); lotus wax; Introduction Natural nonacosan-10-ol waxes derived from plant

Hierarchically structured superhydrophobic flowers with low hysteresis of the wild pansy (Viola tricolor) – new design principles for biomimetic materials

• Anna J. Schulte,
• Damian M. Droste,
• Kerstin Koch and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 228–236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.27

• superhydrophobic, low adhesive surface design, which combines the hierarchical structuring of petals with a wetting behavior similar to that of the lotus leaf. Keywords: anti-adhesive; petal effect; petal structures; polymer replication; superhydrophobic; Introduction Plant surfaces provide a large diversity of

• “petal effect” and are anti-adhesive for water droplets. It is well known that hierarchical surface architecture represents optimized structures for superhydrophobic surfaces [11][33][34][35][36]. Based on the data presented here, we can describe two main superhydrophobic surface architectures for plant

• nanocrystals the surface structures of Viola could be qualified, for example, for large area foil imprinting processes. Thus, a new surface design for the development of superhydrophobic, water repellent biomimetic materials is presented. Experimental Plant material The upper surface (adaxial) sides of the

Sorting of droplets by migration on structured surfaces

• Wilfried Konrad and
• Anita Roth-Nebelsick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 215–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.25

• ]. Plant surfaces are also known to develop a huge variety of patterns on different length scales [11]. A prominent example are the leaf wax structures leading to superhydrophobicity and the Lotus-effect [12]. Larger structures are also common, e.g., trichomes (leaf hairs) or wart-like structures. Stomata

Functional morphology, biomechanics and biomimetic potential of stem–branch connections in Dracaena reflexa and Freycinetia insignis

• Tom Masselter,
• Sandra Eckert and
• Thomas Speck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 173–185, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.21

• Tom Masselter Sandra Eckert Thomas Speck Plant Biomechanics Group Freiburg, Botanic Garden, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany Competence Network Biomimetics and Bionics Competence Network BIOKON e.V 10.3762/bjnano.2.21 Abstract Branching in

• using solutions inspired by plant ramifications, e.g., in automotive and aerospace engineering, architecture, sports equipment and prosthetic manufacturing. Keywords: Biomimetics; branching; Dracaena reflexa; Freycinetia insignis; monocotyledons; Introduction One of the most conspicuous features of

• branch occurs mainly in relatively young, possibly not fully lignified branches (see below). Failure in the stem results in longitudinal cracks which very quickly reach a critical length and lead to failure of the main stem. This failure mode is the most disadvantageous one for the plant and can be

Superhydrophobicity in perfection: the outstanding properties of the lotus leaf

• Hans J. Ensikat,
• Petra Ditsche-Kuru,
• Christoph Neinhuis and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 152–161, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.19

• lower epidermis. The lotus plant has successfully developed an excellent protection for this delicate epistomatic surface of its leaves. Keywords: epicuticular wax; leaf surface; Lotus effect; papillae; water repellency; Introduction Since the introduction of the ‘Lotus concept’ in 1992 [1][2], the

• lotus leaf became the archetype for superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning properties of plant surfaces and a model for technical analogues [3][4] . Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is a semi-aquatic plant and develops peltate leaves up to 30 cm in diameter with remarkable water repellency. As an adaptation to

• been known for a long time that plant surfaces covered with epicuticular wax crystals are water repellent, and that this feature is enhanced when the epidermis has additional structures such as papillae or hairs [5][6]. Neinhuis and Barthlott (1997) [7] presented an overview of more than 200 species

Biomimetics inspired surfaces for drag reduction and oleophobicity/philicity

• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 66–84, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.9

• animals, and seashells with properties of commercial interest. Certain plant leaves, such as lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) leaves, are known to be superhydrophobic and self-cleaning due to the hierarchical surface roughness and presence of a wax layer. In addition to a self-cleaning effect, these surfaces with

• the negative replica. To generate several replicas the second step of replication was repeated twenty times for each surface type. Nanostructures were created by self-assembly of plant wax deposited by thermal evaporation [12][13]. Tubule forming wax, which was isolated from a leaf of Nelumbo nucifera

• hydrophobicity using a dynamic AFM method [16][33]. Data on one hydrophilic, one hydrophobic, and one superhydrophobic surface are presented in Table 2. Mica was taken as the hydrophilic surface. Hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated by deposition of evaporated plant wax on smooth epoxy