Air Mediated Reversible Underwater Adhesion: from Beetles to Bioinspired Materials

瓢虫和叶甲虫是空气介导的水下可逆粘附性的有趣例子。尽管它们是陆栖甲虫，但它们能够附着在水下的固体表面上。这一成功的适应表明，我们可能正在研究许多被超疏水微结构覆盖的物种的一般和基本能力，如昆虫和爬行动物，以执行水下运动。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甲虫附着部分的机械、理化和形态特性等对空气介导的水下附着的不同贡献。然后，将确定重要的参数，并确定它们的比例行为，以扩大可能的材料设计的范围。为了验证理论预测，将对仿生合成表面进行合成和测试。最后，将开发更多的路线，通过可控的登机桥成核，将表面直接粘在水下，作为实现无胶水下附着的一种手段。总体而言，了解甲虫实现空气中介的水下黏附和进行水下运动所使用的基本原理，不仅可以模仿它们的结构，还可以设计优化的合成材料，开发新的方法来实现强大的空气中介的、可逆的水下黏附。

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.