Header menu link for other important links
X
Nature’s design for superhydrophobicity in tropical leaves
Soumya Sridar, Sangeetha Raman,
Published in ICE Publishing
2015
Volume: 3
   
Issue: 3
Pages: 144 - 150
Abstract
Water repellency, exemplified in nature, has fascinated the materials community. This behaviour is utilised to biomimic self-cleaning effects for technological applications. Tropical leaves of three species, namely Moringa oleifera, Euphorbia milii and Caesalpinia ferrea, are investigated in this study. Wettability measurements show that C. ferrea leaf was superhydrophobic with a contact angle greater than 150°, while the other two leaves were hydrophobic with contact angles greater than 140° but less than 150°. Surface morphological studies reveal a structure with irregular wax structures on all the three leaves, unlike the regular wax structures such as tubules or platelets typically observed in most of the superhydrophobic leaves. The surface features were quantified on C. ferrea leaf surface due to its reduced wettability among the three leaves. The parameters such as height, mid-width, and radius of curvature of the cell and thickness of the wax film were determined. This study will possibly provide a new insight into developing self-cleaning surfaces with irregular nanostructures as opposed to conventional regular nanostructure patterns. © 2015, ICE Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
About the journal
JournalSurface Innovations
PublisherICE Publishing
ISSN20506252
Open AccessNo
Concepts (12)
  •  related image
    Contact angle
  •  related image
    Nanostructures
  •  related image
    Wetting
  •  related image
    Morphological study
  •  related image
    Radius of curvature
  •  related image
    SELF-CLEANING EFFECTS
  •  related image
    Self-cleaning surfaces
  •  related image
    Superhydrophobicity
  •  related image
    Surface characterization
  •  related image
    Technological applications
  •  related image
    WETTABILITY MEASUREMENTS
  •  related image
    Hydrophobicity