Air Mediated Reversible Underwater Adhesion: from Beetles to Bioinspired Materials

空气介导的可逆水下粘附：从甲虫到仿生材料

• 批准号: 388761298
• 负责人: Dr. Thomas Endlein, since 9/2018
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: School of Mechanical Engineering
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/388761298?language=en
• 关键词: Air; Mediated; Reversible; Underwater; Adhesion

The ladybird and leaf beetles are intriguing examples of air-mediated reversible underwater adhesion. They are capable of adhering to solid surfaces underwater although they are terrestrial beetles. This successful adaptation suggests we might be looking at a general and fundamental capability of many species covered with superhydrophobic microstructures, such as insects and reptiles, to perform underwater locomotion. In this study, the ladybird and leaf beetles will act as model systems. The first aim is to understand and quantify the different contributions to air mediated underwater adhesion such as mechanical, physio-chemical and morphologicalproperties of the beetles adhering parts. Then, the important parameters will be identified and their scaling behavior will be determined in order to expand the range of possible material designs. Bio-inspired synthetic surfaces will be synthesized and tested in order to verify the theoretical predictions. Finally, additional routes to stick surfaces directly underwater through controlled nucleation of airbridges will be developed as a mean to achieve glue-free underwater adhesion. Overall, understanding the underlying principles used by beetles to achieve air-mediated underwater adhesion and perform underwater locomotion will allow not just to mimic their structures, but to design optimized synthetic materials and develop new methods to achieve strong air-mediated, reversible, underwater adhesion.

瓢虫和叶甲是空气介导的可逆水下粘附的有趣例子。它们能够附着在水下的固体表面，尽管它们是陆地甲虫。这种成功的适应表明，我们可能正在研究许多被超疏水微结构覆盖的物种（如昆虫和爬行动物）进行水下运动的一般和基本能力。在本研究中，瓢虫和叶甲将作为模型系统。第一个目的是了解和量化不同的贡献，空气介导的水下附着，如机械，物理化学和形态学特性的甲虫粘附部件。然后，将确定重要的参数，并确定它们的缩放行为，以扩大可能的材料设计的范围。生物启发的合成表面将被合成和测试，以验证理论预测。最后，将开发通过控制气桥成核直接在水下粘附表面的其他路线，作为实现无胶水下粘附的手段。总的来说，了解甲虫实现空气介导的水下粘附和进行水下运动的基本原理不仅可以模仿它们的结构，还可以设计优化的合成材料，并开发新的方法来实现强大的空气介导的，可逆的水下粘附。