scholarly journals Plant surfaces with cuticular folds are slippery for beetles

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (66) ◽  
pp. 127-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bettina Prüm ◽  
Robin Seidel ◽  
Holger Florian Bohn ◽  
Thomas Speck

Plant surfaces covered with three-dimensional (3D) waxes are known to strongly reduce insect adhesion, leading to slippery surfaces. Besides 3D epicuticular waxes, cuticular folds are a common microstructure found on plant surfaces, which have not been quantitatively investigated with regard to their influence on insect adhesion. We performed traction experiments with Colorado potato beetles on five plant surfaces with cuticular folds of different magnitude. For comparison, we also tested (i) smooth plant surfaces and (ii) plant surfaces possessing 3D epicuticular waxes. Traction forces on surfaces with medium cuticular folds, of about 0.5 µm in both height and thickness and a spacing of 0.5–1.5 µm, were reduced by an average of 88 per cent in comparison to smooth plant surfaces. Traction forces were reduced by the same order of magnitude as on plant surfaces covered with 3D epicuticular waxes. For surface characterization, we performed static contact angle measurements, which proved a strong effect of cuticular folds also on surface wettability. Surfaces possessing cuticular folds of greater magnitude showed higher contact angles up to superhydrophobicity. We hypothesize that cuticular folds reduce insect adhesion mainly due to a critical roughness, reducing the real contact area between the surface and the insect's adhesive devices.

2005 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 179-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.E. Gaskin ◽  
K.D. Steele ◽  
W.A. Forster

A simple measurement of static contact angle of aqueous acetone droplets on surfaces has been developed for characterising leaf surfaces It allows leaves to be compared and grouped by their surface roughness factor and it differentiates between easy difficult and very difficulttowet species This paper describes how the method has been used to survey a large number of plant species including weeds and crops fruit and foliage High contact angles indicate difficulttowet surfaces The quantitative measure of contact angle is a useful tool to predict spray droplet adhesion and rank plant surfaces for retention properties It can also indicate whether surfactant addition is likely to be beneficial for agrochemical sprays targeted at fruit or foliage on different crops Surfactants were most useful for improving spray droplet adhesion and retention on difficulttowet surfaces but results varied with surface wettability surfactant type and concentration and with plant architecture


2016 ◽  
Vol 714 ◽  
pp. 148-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Trejbal ◽  
Lubomír Kopecký ◽  
Pavel Tesárek ◽  
Zdeněk Prošek

Presented work deals with the surface treatments and its effect on micro fibers using as randomly dispersed reinforcement in many types of composite materials. Cool oxygen plasma was used to surface wettability modification of chopped glass fibers having diameter equal to 14 μm. Plasma treatments were carried out at three different times of exposition equal to 4 min, 8 min and 16 min. The influence of executed treatments was observed by the horizontal direct optical method enabling static contact angle measurements on micro fibers which were submerged in a distilled water. The identified differences between the contact angles size of original fibers and the treated fibers were equal to several tens of percent.


Holzforschung ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 516-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl-Mikael Tåg ◽  
Mikael Järn ◽  
Björn Granqvist ◽  
Joakim Järnström ◽  
Jouko Peltonen ◽  
...  

Abstract To obtain more knowledge of the properties affecting print quality and adhesion characteristics in the printing process, attention has been directed to the nature of surface energy. The aim was to compare different surface-energy calculation models and to investigate the influence of surface roughness on wetting of coated offset papers. The wetting process was studied by static contact angle measurements using a series of reference liquids. Topographical characterization was carried out using atomic force microscopy. Surface energy components were determined using different calculation models. The determination can be considerably simplified using a mono-monopolar model, which has been proven in previous studies. The surface energy components were derived from both apparent and topography-corrected contact angles. The surface topography had a significant effect on wetting of the samples studied.


Author(s):  
Jose-Maria Carazo ◽  
I. Benavides ◽  
S. Marco ◽  
J.L. Carrascosa ◽  
E.L. Zapata

Obtaining the three-dimensional (3D) structure of negatively stained biological specimens at a resolution of, typically, 2 - 4 nm is becoming a relatively common practice in an increasing number of laboratories. A combination of new conceptual approaches, new software tools, and faster computers have made this situation possible. However, all these 3D reconstruction processes are quite computer intensive, and the middle term future is full of suggestions entailing an even greater need of computing power. Up to now all published 3D reconstructions in this field have been performed on conventional (sequential) computers, but it is a fact that new parallel computer architectures represent the potential of order-of-magnitude increases in computing power and should, therefore, be considered for their possible application in the most computing intensive tasks.We have studied both shared-memory-based computer architectures, like the BBN Butterfly, and local-memory-based architectures, mainly hypercubes implemented on transputers, where we have used the algorithmic mapping method proposed by Zapata el at. In this work we have developed the basic software tools needed to obtain a 3D reconstruction from non-crystalline specimens (“single particles”) using the so-called Random Conical Tilt Series Method. We start from a pair of images presenting the same field, first tilted (by ≃55°) and then untilted. It is then assumed that we can supply the system with the image of the particle we are looking for (ideally, a 2D average from a previous study) and with a matrix describing the geometrical relationships between the tilted and untilted fields (this step is now accomplished by interactively marking a few pairs of corresponding features in the two fields). From here on the 3D reconstruction process may be run automatically.


2003 ◽  
Vol 771 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kemerink ◽  
S.F. Alvarado ◽  
P.M. Koenraad ◽  
R.A.J. Janssen ◽  
H.W.M. Salemink ◽  
...  

AbstractScanning-tunneling spectroscopy experiments have been performed on conjugated polymer films and have been compared to a three-dimensional numerical model for charge injection and transport. It is found that field enhancement near the tip apex leads to significant changes in the injected current, which can amount to more than an order of magnitude, and can even change the polarity of the dominant charge carrier. As a direct consequence, the single-particle band gap and band alignment of the organic material can be directly obtained from tip height-voltage (z-V) curves, provided that the tip has a sufficiently sharp apex.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 2633366X2097865
Author(s):  
Li Jian

The surface treatment of carbon fibers (CFs) was carried out using a self-synthesized sizing agent. The effects of sizing agent on the surface of CFs and the interface properties of CF/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) composites were mainly studied. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and static contact angle were used to compare and study the CFs before and after the surface treatment, including surface morphology, surface chemical element composition, and wettability of the surface. The influence of sizing agent on the mechanical properties of CF/PMMA resin composite interface was investigated. The results show that after sizing treatment, the CF surface O/C value increased by 35.1% and the contact angles of CF and resin decreased by 16.2%. The interfacial shear strength and interlayer shear strength increased by 12.6%.


Biomimetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Quentin Legrand ◽  
Stephane Benayoun ◽  
Stephane Valette

This investigation of morphology-wetting links was performed using a biomimetic approach. Three natural leaves’ surfaces were studied: two bamboo varieties and Ginkgo Biloba. Multiscale surface topographies were analyzed by SEM observations, FFT, and Gaussian filtering. A PDMS replicating protocol of natural surfaces was proposed in order to study the purely morphological contribution to wetting. High static contact angles, close to 135∘, were measured on PDMS replicated surfaces. Compared to flat PDMS, the increase in static contact angle due to purely morphological contribution was around 20∘. Such an increase in contact angle was obtained despite loss of the nanometric scale during the replication process. Moreover, a significant decrease of the hysteresis contact angle was measured on PDMS replicas. The value of the contact angle hysteresis moved from 40∘ for flat PDMS to less than 10∘ for textured replicated surfaces. The wetting behavior of multiscale textured surfaces was then studied in the frame of the Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter models. Whereas the classical laws made it possible to describe the wetting behavior of the ginkgo biloba replications, a hierarchical model was developed to depict the wetting behavior of both bamboo species.


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 296
Author(s):  
Richard H. Groshong

This paper is a personal account of the origin and development of the twinned-calcite strain gauge, its experimental verification, and its relationship to stress analysis. The method allows the calculation of the three-dimensional deviatoric strain tensor based on five or more twin sets. A minimum of about 25 twin sets should provide a reasonably accurate result for the magnitude and orientation of the strain tensor. The opposite-signed strain axis orientation is the most accurately located. Where one strain axis is appreciably different from the other two, that axis is generally within about 10° of the correct value. Experiments confirm a magnitude accuracy of 1% strain over the range of 1–12% axial shortening and that samples with more than 40% negative expected values imply multiple or rotational deformations. If two deformations are at a high angle to one another, the strain calculated from the positive and negative expected values separately provides a good estimate of both deformations. Most stress analysis techniques do not provide useful magnitudes, although most provide a good estimate of the principal strain axis directions. Stress analysis based on the number of twin sets per grain provides a better than order-of-magnitude approximation to the differential stress magnitude in a constant strain rate experiment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorino Lanzio ◽  
Gregory Telian ◽  
Alexander Koshelev ◽  
Paolo Micheletti ◽  
Gianni Presti ◽  
...  

AbstractThe combination of electrophysiology and optogenetics enables the exploration of how the brain operates down to a single neuron and its network activity. Neural probes are in vivo invasive devices that integrate sensors and stimulation sites to record and manipulate neuronal activity with high spatiotemporal resolution. State-of-the-art probes are limited by tradeoffs involving their lateral dimension, number of sensors, and ability to access independent stimulation sites. Here, we realize a highly scalable probe that features three-dimensional integration of small-footprint arrays of sensors and nanophotonic circuits to scale the density of sensors per cross-section by one order of magnitude with respect to state-of-the-art devices. For the first time, we overcome the spatial limit of the nanophotonic circuit by coupling only one waveguide to numerous optical ring resonators as passive nanophotonic switches. With this strategy, we achieve accurate on-demand light localization while avoiding spatially demanding bundles of waveguides and demonstrate the feasibility with a proof-of-concept device and its scalability towards high-resolution and low-damage neural optoelectrodes.


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