Butterfly wings are beautiful and delicate. They’re also very slippery.
That characteristic has fascinated researchers at
The Ohio State University and inspired them to study the properties of butterfly wing surfaces for insights into developing new high-tech coatings.
“Butterflies’ wings must remain clean in their natural habitat in order for them to maintain flight control and structural coloration,” explains Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar. “They aren’t able to clean their wings like other insects, so they must rely entirely on the self-cleaning properties of their wings. Such properties are a result of superhydrophobility – the ability of a surface to repel water -- and low adhesion, which are desirable for low drag.”
According to Howard Winbigler, professor of mechanical engineering at OSU, “Reduced drag is desirable for industry, whether you’re trying to move a few drops of blood through a nano-channel or millions of gallons of crude oil through a pipeline. And self-cleaning surfaces would be useful for medical equipment – such as catheters, or anything that might harbor bacteria.”
The researchers have zeroed in on one butterfly in particular – the South American Blue Morpho Didius – due to its relatively large size, which will enable them to develop larger-scale replica samples.
“Our goal is to create the butterfly wing effect onto flexible adhesive-backed sheets that could be applied to a variety of flat and curved surfaces,” Bhushan explains. “The sheets would require the addition of nanoparticles or a low-surface energy chemical layer.” He anticipates successful development of prototype sheets this spring.
The applications for high-tech coatings developed through this technique include medical, marine and industrial products that could save lives, energy and money, Bhushan notes.
The researchers’ work is being funded by the
National Science Foundation.
Source: Bharat Bhushan, The Ohio State University
Howard D. Winbigler, The Ohio State University
Writer: Lynne Meyer