title: Hierarchically sculptured plant surfaces and superhydrophobicity.
abstract: More than 400 million years of evolution of land plants led to a high diversity of adapted surface structures. Superhydrophobic biological surfaces are of special interest for the development of biomimetic materials for self-cleaning, drag reduction, and energy conservation. The key innovation in superhydrophobic biological surfaces is hierarchical sculpturing. In plants, a hydrophobic wax coating creates water-repelling surfaces that in combination with two or more levels of sculpturing leads to superhydrophobicity. Hierarchical structuring is of special interest for technical "biomimetic" materials with low adhesion and self-cleaning properties. Here we introduce hierarchical surface sculptures of plants with up to six levels. The article gives an overview of the composition of hierarchical surfaces for superhydrophobicity and their use as models for the development of artificial self-cleaning or drag-reducing surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Nees Institute for Biodiversity of Plants, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 170, 53115 Bonn, Germany. koch@uni-bonn.de
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Holger Florian
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Bohn
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Barthlott
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000379:methods; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology*; D013499:Surface Properties