HENDRIK HOLSCHER - Nano- and microstructured Surfaces Inspired by Geckos, Butterflies, Beetles, and Water Ferns

Hendrik Hölscher.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Jueves 17/11/2016, 14 hs.

Aula Seminario, 2do piso, Pabellón I.

Fascinating properties of many surfaces found in nature originate from nano- and microstructures covering them. With the help of these smart surfaces many animals and plants adapt in an optimal way to their environment. The well-known hierarchical nano-scale hairs at the toes of geckos show high adhesion and self-cleaning abilities at the same time. The blue Morpho butterfly developed “Christmas”-tree like nanostructures to obtain a high reflection of blue light for extremely wide view angles. The air retaining water beetle is an inspiration to develop drag reducing surfaces while high aspect ratio fur-like microhairs found on the water plant Salvinia can be used to clean oil/water mixtures. These and other features of surfaces observed in nature can be mimicked to design smart surfaces which are useful for various technological applications ranging from non-bleaching colors to self-cleaning, adhesive surfaces and oil/water separation. Advanced technologies have to be applied to fabricate these bio-inspired nano- and microstructures. Since e-beam lithography and 3D direct laser writing are only suited for research purposes we develop hot embossing and pulling methods for large scale fabrication. In this talk I will present our recent developments of bio-inspired smart surfaces mimicking the features of butterflies, geckos, beetles, and water plants.