Waterproof surfaces based on nature

Cicada wing. photo by Wayne Boo, U.S. Geological Survey

With concerns about viruses and bacteria at an all-time high, scientists have begun looking for new ways to deter their spread—and they are looking to the natural world with an eye towards copying nature’s designs.  One strategy has been to create surfaces so repellent to moisture that these microbes find nothing they can cling to.

These surfaces are called hydrophobic (“water hating”), and researchers are looking to mimic naturally-occurring materials produced by animals that can repel water very effectively—and bacteria, too.

The lotus leaf is a particularly famous example of a hydrophobic material, but scientists have also found that cicada wings are naturally water repellent. Marianne Alleyne, an entomology professor at the University, has co-led a new study on how we may fabricate the same surface structure cheaply and quickly…………..

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/scientists-inventing-waterproof-surfaces-based-on-nature-to-repel-bacteria/