Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• comparison of the maximum traction forces Fmax obtained here from C. fastuosa males on nine waxy plant surfaces with those measured in the first experiment on the reference glass gl1 demonstrated the anti-adhesive properties of the wax coverage in the studied plant species. This effect was clearly seen when

Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• bees to seal their hive and protect the colony against pathogens. Since propolis is quite a sticky substance, the authors analysed whether the mandibles of the bees show specific anti-adhesive properties, enabling them to manipulate the propolis. Adhesion experiments with propolis and bee mandibles

Laser-processed antiadhesive bionic combs for handling nanofibers inspired by nanostructures on the legs of cribellate spiders

• Sebastian Lifka,
• Kristóf Harsányi,
• Erich Baumgartner,
• Lukas Pichler,
• Dariya Baiko,
• Karsten Wasmuth,
• Johannes Heitz,
• Marco Meyer,
• Anna-Christin Joel,
• Jörn Bonse and
• Werner Baumgartner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1268–1283, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.105

• state B, and Figure 3e,f shows state C. State B only exists in a very narrow parameter window and, thus, can be neglected. We were able to find a solution for the transition from state C, in the following also called the adhesive state, into an anti-adhesive state A, in dependence on only a few

• amplitude a and λ is too low, the surface becomes even more adhesive for nanofibers than flat surfaces. Figure 5 shows the above-described effect for a fiber radius R = 15 nm and different characteristic lengths λ. Design and test of LIPSS-covered metal surfaces that are anti-adhesive for electrospun PA-6

• to anti-adhesive state for varying fiber radii ranging between 10 and 200 nm. The individual curves represent a lower limit of the surface modulation amplitude a, that is, the surface is adhesive for nanofibers through van der Waals forces only for values below the corresponding curves. Relative

Interaction between honeybee mandibles and propolis

• Leonie Saccardi,
• Franz Brümmer,
• Jonas Schiebl,
• Oliver Schwarz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 958–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.84

• hypothetically could have developed evolutionary anti-adhesive strategies. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) was identified as an analogue model since it collects and processes propolis, which largely consists of collected tree resin. Propolis is a sticky substance used by bees to seal their hive and protect the

• colony against pathogens. In spite of its stickiness, honeybees are able to handle and manipulate propolis with their mandibles. We wanted to know if beneficial anti-adhesive properties of bee mandibles reduce propolis adhesion. The anatomy of bee mandibles was studied in a (cryo-)scanning electron

• microscope. Adhesion experiments were performed with propolis on bee mandibles to find out if bee mandibles have anti-adhesive properties that enable bees to handle the sticky material. A scale-like pattern was found on the inside of the mandible. Fresh mandibles were covered with a seemingly fluid substance

Bioselectivity of silk protein-based materials and their bio-inspired applications

• Hendrik Bargel,
• Vanessa T. Trossmann,
• Christoph Sommer and
• Thomas Scheibel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 902–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.81

• of proteins, microbes, and cells should be guided by material-related surface properties to create bioinert, bioactive, or biomimetic biomaterials. 1.3 Antiadhesive and anti-fouling protein surfaces Nature has evolved a diverse portfolio of anti-adhesive, antimicrobial and antifouling methods

• that inhibit initial attachment or directly kill microbes (see Figure 2) [50]. Natural surfaces provide many examples of anti-adhesive topography, including nanostructured pikes on Cicada wings [51], micro-structured and patterned riblets of the shark skin scales [52], hierarchically micro- and

When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

• Niall Crawford,
• Thomas Endlein,
• Jonathan T. Pham,
• Mathis Riehle and
• W. Jon P. Barnes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2116–2131, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.201

• possess claws as well as adhesive pads. Additionally, there are studies of plant surfaces that have evolved to be anti-adhesive as far as insects are concerned. The effects of surface roughness on animals with hairy pads (geckos, spiders, insects such as beetles) are reasonably predictable. When the

Surface roughness rather than surface chemistry essentially affects insect adhesion

• Matt W. England,
• Tomoya Sato,
• Makoto Yagihashi,
• Atsushi Hozumi,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Elena V. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1471–1479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.139

• be dissolved by the pad fluid) [22]. These mechanisms are to some extent conventional strategies utilized in functional surface design that gives us a unique chance to develop artificial surfaces with such properties, and test their anti-adhesive effects on insects [5][6][7][8][10][11][12][13][15

• summary, we have clearly shown that the insect anti-adhesive effect is due to both surface chemistry and texture, but it is primarily driven by the substrate roughness, and less by surface chemistry. It seems to be a universal effect for both dry [40][41] and wet (but not glue-mediated) [23][29][38][42

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

• shown to be superhydrophobic and anti-adhesive for water. Other petals showing papillate cells covered with cuticular folds, such as petals of roses, were hydrophobic but of high adhesion for water [10][11]. Hierarchical structuring of different characteristics has also been found in carnivorous plants

Plasmonic nanostructures fabricated using nanosphere-lithography, soft-lithography and plasma etching

• Manuel R. Gonçalves,
• Taron Makaryan,
• Fabian Enderle,
• Stefan Wiedemann,
• Alfred Plettl,
• Othmar Marti and
• Paul Ziemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 448–458, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.49

• , and epoxy resin cast on that sample could still not be detached. For the preparation of an anti-adhesive coating the same plasma etching system was used. By plasma polymerization of the process gas CHF3, a fluoro-carbon film was deposited on the previously prepared quartz substrate. This technique

• delivers layers of excellent conformity, and of very low surface energy, to the subjacent structure [59][60]. Furthermore, this coating technique works on most substrates, e.g., silicon, glass, metals, or any on passivation layer on the pillars. In all cases, the thickness of the anti-adhesive layers is in

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

• -directed lunate cells and thick crystalline wax coverage [14][15][16], the contribution of the microstructure to the anti-adhesive function of this surface is still being actively discussed. Numerous studies were recently performed to investigate the micromorphology, chemistry, properties of pitcher waxes

• attachment ability in the slippery zone of the N. alata pitcher was previously studied in experiments designed to test the anti-adhesive effect of the wax coverage. It was shown in behavioural experiments that intact surfaces covered with wax crystals hindered the locomotion of ants Iridomyrmex humilis, as

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