scholarly journals Air-entrapping capacity in the hair coverage of Malacosoma castrensis (Lasiocampidae: Lepidoptera) caterpillar: a case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 223 (14) ◽  
pp. jeb225029
Author(s):  
Alexander Kovalev ◽  
Manuela Rebora ◽  
Gianandrea Salerno ◽  
Stanislav Gorb

ABSTRACTThe moth Malacosoma castrensis (Lasiocampidae) is commonly found along the Northern Germany coasts, the habitats of which are mainly represented by salt marshes subjected to sea level variations. Surprisingly, terrestrial caterpillars can withstand many hours of being flooded by seawater. The ability to withstand periods of submersion in a terrestrial insect raises the problem of respiration related to avoiding water percolation into the tracheal system. In the present study, we investigated under laboratory conditions the role of water-repellent cuticle structures in oxygen supply in caterpillars of M. castrensis submerged in water. For this purpose, air-layer stability tests using force measurements, and micromorphology of cuticle structures using SEM and fluorescence microscopy, were performed. A plastron appeared when a caterpillar is underwater. The stability, gas composition and internal pressure of the plastron were estimated. The plastron is stabilized by long and scarce hairs, which are much thicker than the corresponding hairs of aquatic insects. Thick and stiff hairs with sclerotized basal and middle regions protrude into the water through the plastron–water interface, while substantial regions of thin and flexible hairs are aligned along the plastron–water interface and their side walls can support pressure in the plastron even below atmospheric pressure. Additional anchoring points between hair's stalk and microtrichia near the hair base provide enhanced stiffness to the hair layer and prevent the hair layer from collapse and water entering between hairs. The advancing contact angle on hairs is more than 90 deg, which is close to the effective contact angle for the whole caterpillar.

Author(s):  
David Quéré ◽  
Mathilde Reyssat

Superhydrophobic materials recently attracted a lot of attention, owing to the potential practical applications of such surfaces—they literally repel water, which hardly sticks to them, bounces off after an impact and slips on them. In this short review, we describe how water repellency arises from the presence of hydrophobic microstructures at the solid surface. A drop deposited on such a substrate can float above the textures, mimicking at room temperature what happens on very hot plates; then, a vapour layer comes between the solid and the volatile liquid, as described long ago by Leidenfrost. We present several examples of superhydrophobic materials (either natural or synthetic), and stress more particularly the stability of the air cushion—the liquid could also penetrate the textures, inducing a very different wetting state, much more sticky, due to the possibility of pinning on the numerous defects. This description allows us to discuss (in quite a preliminary way) the optimal design to be given to a solid surface to make it robustly water repellent.


Author(s):  
Jordan P. Mizerak ◽  
Van P. Carey

The dynamic behavior of impinging water droplets is studied in the context of varying surface morphologies on smooth and microstructured superhydrophilic surfaces. The goal of this study is to evaluate the capability of contact angle wall adhesion models to accurately produce spreading phenomena seen on a variety of surface types. We analyze macroscale droplet behavior, specifically spreading extent and impinging regime, in situations of varying microscale wetting character and surface morphology. Axisymmetric, volume of fluid (VOF) simulations with static contact angle wall adhesion are conducted in ANSYS Fluent. Simulations are performed on water for low Weber numbers (We<20) on surfaces with features of length scale 5–10μm. Advanced microstructured surfaces consisting of unique wetting characteristics and lengths on each face are also tested. Results show that while the contact angle wall adhesion model shows fair agreement for conventional surfaces, the model underestimates spreading by over 60% for surfaces exhibiting estimated contact angles below approximately 0.5°. Microstructured surfaces adapt the wetting behavior of smooth surfaces with higher effective contact angles based on contact line pinning on morphology features. The propensity of the model to produce Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter states is linked to the spreading radius, introducing an interdependency of microscale wetting and macroscale spreading behavior. Conclusions describing the impact of results on evaporative cooling are also discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 1013-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongrong Yu ◽  
Mingwei Tian ◽  
Lijun Qu ◽  
Shifeng Zhu ◽  
Jianhua Ran ◽  
...  

Cotton fabrics with hydrophilic-to-hydrophobic asymmetric surfaces are attractive as potential utilizable structures for functional garments. The spray-coating route could be deemed as a fast and simple way to achieve asymmetric surfaces. In this paper, SiO2 nanoparticles with size ∼ 205 nm were synthesized via the modified sol-gel method, and then modified with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to form a hydrophobic surface. The SiO2 nanoparticles modified with PVDF were uniformly deposited on the outer surface of cotton fabric aided with the robust air flow force from the sprayer. The morphology and chemical structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, mapping, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that SiO2 nanoparticles were evenly deposited on the surface of cotton fibers and stable interfacial interaction occurred between SiO2 and PVDF molecular chains. The existence of SiO2 could increase the roughness of the fabric surface, which could enhance the water-repellent property of the coated fabrics. Furthermore, the water-repellent property and thermal insulation properties were evaluated via the water contact angle and thermal conductivity tests, respectively, and the results showed that 20 wt.% SiO2/PVDF fabric achieved a desirable level of contact angle, 136.6°, which was the largest water contact angle among all the samples, and the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.033 W/mK, resulting from the existence of SiO2 nanoparticles. Such a fast and simple spray-coating strategy could be widely introduced into asymmetric fabric modification, and such asymmetric fabrics with reasonable water-repellent and thermal insulating outer surfaces could act as candidates in the field of functional garments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1112 ◽  
pp. 359-362
Author(s):  
Aisyah Nor Hasnan ◽  
Azizah Hanom Ahmad

Dammar plant resin is a local natural resin that can be bled from Dipterocaupacea sp of tree. It can be found abundantly in Malaysia’s tropical forest especially in Sarawak. Dammar and Titanium Dioxide was mixed in a various wt% to produce Dammar-modified Titanium Dioxide coating system. The modified coating systems were then spin-coated onto Aluminium Q-panel as the substrate. Coated Q-panels were left to cure at room temperature. The curing time was evaluated using dust free stage. The addition of Titanium Dioxide into the coating system fastens the curing time taken for the coated Q-panel to be cure. It only took about 11-12 minutes to dry compared to the coating system before the addition of Titanium Dioxide where a quite long duration required, 32 minutes. Contact angle measurement was also carried out in order to determine the wettability of the coating system. The surface coated with dammar-modified titanium dioxide found to be hydrophobic where a quite large contact angle obtained for the sample with 3 wt% of Titanium Dioxide (PDT3). The water droplets actually rest on the coating surface without wetting the surface. Water absorption test was done to strengthen the contact angle results where coated substrate was soaked into distilled water for 24 hours and being weighed before and after soaking. The difference of before and after soaking weigh showed that the coating surface does not absorb that much water where only approximately 0.02% of water being absorbed by the coating system for 3 wt%. It proved that the coating systems applied are hydrophobic.


MRS Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (31) ◽  
pp. 2237-2245
Author(s):  
Myles Thomas ◽  
Elizabeth Krenek ◽  
Stephen Beaudoin

ABSTRACTUnderstanding particle adhesion is vital to any industry where particulate systems are involved. There are multiple factors that affect the strength of the adhesion force, including the physical properties of the interacting materials and the system conditions. Surface roughness on the particles and the surfaces to which they adhere, including roughness at the nanoscale, is critically important to the adhesion force. The focus of this work is on the capillary force that dominates the adhesion whenever condensed moisture is present. Theoretical capillary forces were calculated for smooth particles adhered to smooth and rough surfaces. Simulations of the classical centrifuge technique used to describe particle adhesion to surfaces were performed based on these forces. A model was developed to describe the adhesion of the particles to the rough surface in terms of the adhesion to a smooth surface and an ‘effective’ contact angle distribution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Bottone ◽  
Valentina Donadei ◽  
Henna Niemelä ◽  
Heli Koivuluoto ◽  
Stefan Seeger

AbstractPassive icephobic surfaces can provide a cost and energy efficient solution to many icing problems that are currently handled with expensive active strategies. Water-repellent surface treatments are promising candidates for this goal, but commonly studied systems, such as superhydrophobic surfaces and Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surfaces (SLIPS), still face challenges in the stability and durability of their properties in icing environments. In this work, environmental icing conditions are simulated using an Icing Wind Tunnel, and ice adhesion is evaluated with a Centrifugal Adhesion Test. We show that superhydrophobic coral-like Silicone Nanofilament (SNF) coatings exhibit extremely low ice adhesion, to the point of spontaneous ice detachment, and good durability against successive icing cycles. Moreover, SNFs-based SLIPS show stably low ice adhesion for the whole duration of the icing test. Stability of surface properties in a cold environment is further investigated with water wettability at sub-zero surface temperature, highlighting the effect of surface chemistry on superhydrophobicity under icing conditions.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 4003
Author(s):  
Seongyong Kim ◽  
Minho Jo ◽  
Jongsu Lee ◽  
Changwoo Lee

Solar cells are important alternatives to fossil fuels for energy generation in today’s world, where the demand for alternative, renewable sources of energy is increasing. However, solar cells, which are installed outdoors, are susceptible to pollution by environmental factors. A solution to overcome this limitation involves coating solar cell surfaces with functional coatings. In this study, we propose a transmittance control method for a tensioned web in a roll-to-roll, transparent, water-repellent film coating. First, we analyzed the effects of process conditions on the transmittance and contact angle of the transparent water-repellent film during roll-to-roll slot-die coating. It was confirmed that the tension was the most dominant factor, followed by the coating gap. Through the tension control, the transmittance was changed by 3.27%, and the contact angle of the DI water was changed by 17.7°. In addition, it was confirmed that the transmittance was changed by 0.8% and the contact angle of DI water by 3.9° via the coating gap control. Based on these results, a transmittance prediction model was developed according to the tension and coating gap, and was then verified experimentally. Finally, a water-repellent film with a high transmittance of 89.77% was obtained using this model.


2011 ◽  
Vol 236-238 ◽  
pp. 1199-1202
Author(s):  
Shu Fang Zhou ◽  
Chuan Shan Zhao ◽  
Jing Jing Wang

In this paper, a kind of sizing synergist,AKD,cationic rosin(CRS) and oil resistance agent were mixed in different proportions, we make it as a kind of new water repellent agent ,and for internal sizing. The best dosage and the composite ratio of the synergist, AKD, cationic rosin and oil resistance agent was discussed mainly in this experiment. And then the copy paper were tested of the substanceweight and contact angle, and compared with the water resistance when the domestic water repellent agent or AKD was added alone. Conclusions of this experiment are following: the optimal conditions were that the mass ratio of AKD and CRS is 6:4, the additive level of AKD and the cationic rosin is 6% (based on dry weight of pulp), the quantity of the sizing synergist is 0.5% , and no oil resistance agent was added, the effect of water resistance is best.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 291
Author(s):  
Hu Wang ◽  
Jian Chen ◽  
Hongjun Liu ◽  
Lei Guo ◽  
Yao Lu ◽  
...  

In the construction of subsea tunnels, the stability and control of the excavation surface are the main concerns of the engineering community. In this paper, the Xiamen Metro Line 2 is used as the study case. The filter cake formation of mud shields is experimentally studied, and the excavation surface is numerically simulated. It is found that the formation of filter cake does not require a large pressure difference, and can be formed under 0.06 MPa. With the increase of pressure, the quality of filter cake is further improved, and a small amount of seawater (volume ratio less than 3%) also has a significant effect on the viscosity of mud. Under different cross-section geological conditions, with the decrease of the support pressure of the excavation face, the vertical displacement and vertical (Y-direction) displacement of the excavation face dome gradually increase, the maximum longitudinal displacement is 9.7 mm, the maximum longitudinal displacement can reach 23.9 mm, and the growth trend is nonlinear. According to different stratum conditions, during the excavation of the tunnel, the plastic area of the excavation face is different.


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