Friction reduction through biologically inspired scale-like laser surface textures

• Johannes Schneider,
• Vergil Djamiykov and
• Christian Greiner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2561–2572, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.238

• scale-like surface textures needs to be tested in the future. Such effects were reported for a variety of biological systems [55][56] and polymeric [21][22] as well as metallic [24] surface morphologies inspired by snake skin. Modelling efforts revealed that anisotropy is a function of the counter

• lithography with morphologies inspired by snake skin, Cuervo et al. [24] systematically varied the height, width and spacing of their elliptical surface features. A reduction in friction was also reported for surfaces featuring pillar and channel surface morphologies inspired by biology [57][58]. The authors

• systems, such as snake skin, it was revealed by nanoindentation that the outer scale layer has a higher hardness compared to the inner ones [60][61]. One could speculate that through the rapid cooling of the molten bearing steel during laser texturing, making up the scale-like morphology, a higher

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• [147][148]. Bio-inspired plasmonic nanostructures/architectures The pioneering works of several research groups have revealed that by mimicing biological systems, such as butterfly wings [149] and snake skin [150], systems can be designed that are cable of absorbing NIR light due to their distinctive

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

• twigs [50]. We are thus building up a good understanding of both the underlying mechanisms and the ecology of tree frog adhesive mechanisms. But this study goes further: comparable to the drag reduction mechanisms of snake skin [51], the superhydrophobicity and self-cleaning mechanisms of lotus leaves

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

• theoretical studies which range from insect adhesion, bacterial adhesion and skin friction to artificial biomimetic systems, e.g., snake-skin inspired polymer patterns or gecko tape. The Thematic Series does not attempt to give a comprehensive overview of the emerging field of biological contact mechanics

Dry friction of microstructured polymer surfaces inspired by snake skin

• Martina J. Baum,
• Lars Heepe,
• Elena Fadeeva and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1091–1103, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.122

• suggesting a trade-off between these two effects. Keywords: biomimetics; dry friction; microstructure; polymer; snake skin; Introduction Owing to the lack of extremities, the ventral body side of snakes is in almost continuous contact with the substrate. In spite of this, snakes are one of the most

• ) to reduce skin material abrasion by generating low friction in forward sliding along the substrate [4]. Anisotropic frictional properties of the snake skin were previously shown by several tribological studies using various techniques at the macro scale [5][6][7][8][9], meso scale [10], and nano

• scale [11]. These properties must be kept up over a longer period of time until new skin is moulted. Frictional properties of snake skin in contact with a solid partner depend on (i) the surface energy, (ii) material properties, and (iii) surface topography of the tribo-pair [12][13]. The surface energy

Fibrillar adhesion with no clusterisation: Functional significance of material gradient along adhesive setae of insects

• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Alexander E. Filippov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 837–845, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.95

• . This has been previously shown for insect cuticle [24][25], snake skin [26], human teeth [27][28], and other biological composites. The gradients have been also recently reported for smooth attachment devices of insects [29]. Interestingly, the gradients in smooth pads of locusts and bushcrickets are

Friction behavior of a microstructured polymer surface inspired by snake skin

• Martina J. Baum,
• Lars Heepe and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 83–97, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.8

• . The role of microornamentation in frictional properties of the snake skin was extensively examined [2][3][9][11][12]. We previously showed a strong influence of the stiffness of the underlying layers of the epidermis on the anisotropic frictional properties of the skin [17]. This finding demonstrates

• “snake skin” as a highly complex frictional system with numerous variables influencing its frictional properties. The surface of the ventral scale of the snake Lampropeltis getula californiae (Figure 1a) was previously examined in detail by scanning electron microscope (SEM) (Figure 1b). Based on this

• -slip motion was reduced here, and the frictional coefficients increased. We concluded from these findings, that the anisotropic frictional properties of snake skin [17] cannot be simply be copied by producing polymeric replicas of the original snake surface. The frictional coefficient of snake skin is