Straight roads into nowhere – obvious and not-so-obvious biological models for ferrophobic surfaces

• Wilfried Konrad,
• Christoph Neinhuis and
• Anita Roth-Nebelsick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1345–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.111

• is described that started with a posed technical problem for which seemingly obvious biological models exist. The technical problem was to devise a ferrophobic surface that prevents the contact between the copper surface of a tuyère (a water cooled aeration pipe within a blast furnace) and liquid

• problem: Failing blast furnace tuyères In this section, the problem and its technical and economical relevance will be briefly outlined. Iron ore consists mostly of iron oxides, which have to be reduced in order to obtain metallic iron (or steel). This is primarily achieved via the blast furnace pathway

• : iron ore, coke and huge amounts of very hot air are supplied to a blast furnace (Figure 1a). Coke and air produce hot carbon monoxide, which reduces the iron ore to liquid metallic iron. The hot air is pressed into the lower part of the furnace via double-walled, water-cooled pipes called tuyères that