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

• satisfactory nearly superhydrophobic material which the authors used to create an effective oil–water separation product they called nanopads. What this paper demonstrates, in addition to the not insignificant contribution it makes to the science of structured surfaces, is that with a bit of creativity and a

Roll-to-roll fabrication of superhydrophobic pads covered with nanofur for the efficient clean-up of oil spills

• Patrick Weiser,
• Robin Kietz,
• Marc Schneider,
• Matthias Worgull and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1228–1239, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.102

• realized because of the limitations of conventional hot embossing regarding structurable area. The structured film is subsequently processed into an exemplary product, that is, so-called nanopads; polymeric sandwiches of polypropylene film covered with nanofur and filled with an oil-absorbing material

• . These are well-suited for the cleanup of small oil spills. Keywords: hot embossing; lotus effect; nanofur; nanopads; oil spill cleanup; oil water separation; roll-to-roll; R2R; superhydrophobicity; Introduction Self-cleaning surfaces utilizing the famous lotus effect have gained significant importance

• for commercial applications. Furthermore, we demonstrate the subsequent processing of the thin polymeric nanofur into an exemplary product, namely so-called nanopads. These are an aid for the efficient cleaning of oil spills due to the efficient oil–water separation ability of nanofur [23]. The