Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect
The publication of the lotus effect by Barthlott and Neinhuis in 1997 could be considered as a paradigm shift in surface science and an important milestone in biomimetics, which increased the visibility of this field of research. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of this discovery and the 75th birthday of its discoverer Wilhelm Barthlott, this thematic issue aims to collect publications that show new results in the field of biomimetics, especially on the micrometer and nanometer scale, in addition to review articles that give an overview of the last 25 years in the field of biomimetics or special areas of this research field and an outlook on possible new developments in the field.
The submitted works to this thematic issue may include, but are not limited to the following topics:
- Reviews in the field of biomimetic research, especially on the micrometer and nanometer scale
- Fundamental biological research underpinning biomimetic developments
- Biological and biomimetic surfaces, structures, sensors, and materials on the nanometer and micrometer scale
- Simulative approaches in the field of biomimetics
** Submission deadline extended to June 30, 2022 **
(please contact the guest editors directly if you cannot meet this deadline)
- Full Research Paper
- Published 01 Dec 2021
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Figure 1: Leaf ontogeny and cuticular ridge development. (a) Leaf development from bud appearance during the ...
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Figure 2: Schematic representation of leaf growth stages of Schismatoglottis calyptrata and their respective ...
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Figure 3: The plots show (a) the variation in the arithmetic average roughness (Ra) of the leaf surfaces with...
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Figure 4: A typical epoxy replica of the surface of a leaf at growth stage 2 having a ridge progression incli...
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Figure 5: Cell size and orientation. (a) The outlines show the area of the epidermal cell as the sum of areas...
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Figure 6: Insect traction forces: (a) A female Colorado potato beetle walking on a Schismatoglottis calyptrata...
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Figure 7: Schematic representation of (a) the replication process of Schismatoglottis calyptrata leaf surface...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 22 Apr 2022
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Figure 1: Specimens. (a) The middle part of the hind tibia was cut from the desert locust. Indents were perfo...
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Figure 2: Elastic modulus and water content of specimens in different treatment groups. (a) The elastic modul...
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Figure 3: Elastic modulus of (a) frozen, (b) desiccated and (c) rehydrated tibiae against recorded time. Diff...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 22 Aug 2022
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Figure 1: Plant organs and surfaces examined. (a, b) Vegetative organs: the inner, adaxial (LBad) and outer, ...
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Figure 2: Cryo-SEM micrographs of leaf lamina surfaces. (a, b) Adaxial side. (c–f) Abaxial side. GR, groove; ...
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Figure 3: Cryo-SEM micrographs of the fractured epidermis of the leaf lamina. (a–c) Adaxial side. (d, e) Abax...
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Figure 4: Cryo-SEM micrographs of the abaxial side of the ligule. (a) General view of the surface. (b–e) Wax ...
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Figure 5: Cryo-SEM micrographs of the surfaces in the generative organs. (a–c) The pedicel. (d–f) The abaxial...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 26 Aug 2022
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Figure 1: The low-speed straight-flow wind tunnel and the beetle during test.
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Figure 2: (A), (B), and (C) show one flapping cycle of P. brevitarsis, A. chinensis, and T. dichotomus, respe...
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Figure 3: (A), (B), and (C) show hind wings of P. brevitarsis, A. chinensis, and T. dichotomus, respectively....
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Figure 4: Nanomechanical test results of the anterior of the costal (I), the end of the costal (II), media po...
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Figure 5: Aerodynamic characteristics of the three beetles. (A), (B), and (C) show the average lift-to-drag r...
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Figure 6: Schematic diagram of passive deformation of the hind wings of the three beetles.
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- Review
- Published 08 Sep 2022
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Figure 1: Material-related properties guiding the interactions of proteins, microbes and cells on biomaterial...
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Figure 2: Common antimicrobial approaches regarding the general defense mechanisms (A) surface topography, (B...
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Figure 3: Bioselective, cell adhesive spider silk surfaces. (A) hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes adhere and sprea...
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Figure 4: Antimicrobial spider silk materials. (A) Nanofibrous silk fibroin mats (BmSF and AaSF) are coated w...
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Figure 5: Engineered spider silk proteins for controlled microbial repellence and bioselective cell attachmen...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 14 Sep 2022
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Figure 1: Bee propolis. (A) Raw propolis as collected from the hive. (B) Homogenised propolis powder. (C) Con...
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Figure 2: Head and mandible of a worker bee. (A) Frontal view of a honeybee head with an arrow pointing to th...
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Figure 3: Adhesion experiments. (A) Experimental set-up for adhesion testing with the Basalt-01 mechanical te...
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Figure 4: Anatomy of the bee mandible. (A) Medial surface of left bee mandible. Characteristic features are l...
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Figure 5: Profile of scales on bee mandibles. (A) Cryo-SEM micrograph of mandible cuticle. The arrowhead indi...
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Figure 6: Mandibles of propolis bees. (A) Mandible tip completely covered with resin. (B) Resin residues on m...
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Figure 7: Propolis adhesion on bee mandibles. (A) Adhesion of propolis on bee mandibles compared to glass. Ad...
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Figure 8: Fractures of freshly prepared, frozen bee mandibles. (A) Overview of mandible fracture. Inside and ...
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Figure 9: Bee mandibles washed with different methods. (A–C) Cryo-SEM micrographs of untreated bee mandibles ...
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Figure 10: Fractures of bee mandibles washed with chloroform. (A) Cryo-SEM micrograph of fractured bee mandibl...
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Figure 11: Replica of bee mandible. (A) Bee mandible replica made of Spurr’s epoxy resin. (B) Propolis adhesio...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 31 Oct 2022
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Figure 1: Schematic showing the roll-to-roll fabriction of a thin nanofur film by the example of PP and COC. ...
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Figure 2: Photos showing the essential fabrication steps of thin nanofur. (a) Extrusion line with rolling uni...
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Figure 3: (a) SEM picture of a side cut of a PP nanofur film (view angle 84°). (b) A water droplet of 1 µL on...
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Figure 4: (a) Nanofur produced with a gap size set 50 µm below the nominal material thickness. Many long hair...
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Figure 5: Contact angles measured along a 25 m long foil of nanofur produced in the described roll-to-roll pr...
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Figure 6: Comparison between nanofur produced by classical hot embossing and R2R nanofur. Even though morphol...
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Figure 7: (a) Schematic side view of the nanopads indicating their functionality. Two perforated polypropylen...
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Figure 8: Schematic of the nanopad fabrication steps. (a) First, circular cut-outs are produced using a circu...
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Figure 9: Fabrication of nanopads from polypropylene nanofur film. (a) In the first step, circular pieces are...
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Figure 10: Oil absorption as a function of the time for pads filled with cotton and different oils. The higher...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 07 Nov 2022
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Figure 1: Images of four distantly related and differently sized cribellate spiders with same-sized nanorippl...
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Figure 2: Principle geometry of the interaction of a nanofiber with a periodic sinusoidal surface topography ...
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Figure 3: The three possible states: A (a, b), B (c, d), and C (e, f). (a, c, e) show the total energies Etot...
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Figure 4: Transition from adhesive to anti-adhesive state for varying fiber radii ranging between 10 and 200 ...
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Figure 5: Relative total energy for different characteristic lengths λ for a fiber radius of R = 15 nm (the o...
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Figure 6: Scanning electron micrograph of electrospun nanofibers. One can see the random orientation of the i...
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Figure 7: Peel-off force measurement of polished (a) and LIPSS-covered (b) steel samples. The applied weights...
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Figure 8: Peel-off force per unit length measurement results from Table 1 and Table 2 (mean values) visualized as bar plot....
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Figure 9: LIPSS-covered and polished titanium alloy surfaces after peel-off of an electrospun nonwoven. While...
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Figure 10: (a) Photography of a laser-structured titanium alloy sample after ultrafast laser processing. The c...
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Figure 11: (a) Photography of the setup for the electrospinning process. (b) Top view of the spun sample after...
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Figure 12: Measurement principle of the newly established peel-off test avoiding edge effects. Blue: sample wi...
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Figure 13: Setup used for the peel-off force measurements.
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 09 Nov 2022
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Figure 1: Images of a Tokay gecko in its natural habitat in Vietnam (photo courtesy of Lee Grismer. This cont...
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Figure 2: The relationship between morphological characters and SVL of 15 individuals. The relationship betwe...
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Figure 3: The relationships between frictional adhesion and body mass for acrylic glass (y = 0.54x – 0.05, r2...
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Figure 4: Frictional adhesive force predicted based on morphology (red triangles; y = 0.61x + 0.69, r2 =0.95)...
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- Perspective
- Published 17 Nov 2022
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Figure 1: Left: Scheme of a typical blast furnace (picture from OpenStax, Blast Furnace Reactions, CC BY 4.0)...
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Figure 2: (a) A leaf of Salvinia molesta (Kariba weed) from above. The inset (b) shows the eggbeater-like str...
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Figure 3: The skin structures of Collembola (springtails) show several levels of protection against wetting: ...
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Figure 4: Basic structure of the xylem, the water transport tissue of plants. The xylem consists of elongated...
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Figure 5: Left: Closely arranged “ice cream cones” on the surfaces of tuyères that contain gas pockets are ab...
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Figure 6: The two test objects before (a, c) and after (b, d) testing. (a, b) Unmodified copper plate, (c,d) ...
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Figure 7: Sketch of the project progress. Initially, two biological models showing highly water-repellent sur...
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Figure 8: Illustration of the Young–Laplace equation. Left: The interface is given by the equation z = u(x,y)...
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Figure 9: Mechanical stability of a gas/liquid interface. Left: After being deflected from its equilibrium po...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 21 Nov 2022
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Figure 1: Biological role model and biomimetic air retaining surfaces. a) Leaf of the floating fern Salvinia ...
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Figure 2: Confirmation of the persistence of the air layer in low water depth and analysis of the shape of th...
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Figure 3: Results of the long term investigations of air layers on MSM in three different depths. a) The grap...
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Figure 4: To determine pressure stability and diffusion behavior of the MSM, CLSM and a custom-made pressure ...
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Figure 5: Results of the pressure stability and diffusion behavior experiments. a) With increasing pressure (...
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Figure 6: SEM images of the MSM after they have been submerged for one month in tap water. a) A microbial neu...
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- Full Research Paper
- Published 02 Jan 2023
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Figure 1: A snapshot of the simulation system. A liquid–vapor reservoir in contact with a carbon slab and wit...
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Figure 2: Part of the simulation box illustrating the two types of thermal control used in the simulation. Th...
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Figure 3: Carbon nanocone with 26 Å length, 8.2 Å tip diameter, and 17 Å of base diameter. Hydrophilic rings ...
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Figure 4: Snapshots of the temporal evolution of the vapor system using εi = 1.1.
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Figure 5: (a) Number and (b) histogram of collected water molecules as functions of (a) the time and (b) time...
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Figure 6: 2D snapshots of the temporal evolution for vapor for a hydrophobic nanocone (left), the number of c...
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Figure 7: A snapshot of water molecules (red dots) on the attractive slab and hydrogen bonds (blue lines) at t...
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Figure 8: (a) Radial distribution function and (b) mean square displacement of the water molecules on the att...
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Figure 9: (a) Number of collected molecules as a function of the time (ns) for different εr. (b) Mean collect...
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Figure 10: Graph of water flux in different regions of the nanocone (Figure 3), for different values of the potential ...
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