title: Nanoscale hydrophilicity studies of Gulf parrotfish (Scarus persicus) scales.
abstract: The Gulf parrotfish (Scarus persicus) offers inspiration for a strategy to combat marine biofouling, a problem of great economic and environmental interest to the maritime community, through its use of a continually maintained, multifunctional, water-based mucus layer to cover its scales. In this study, to better understand the scale-mucus interface, we investigate the nanoscale hydrophilicity of the fish scales by comparing reconstructed force distance profiles obtained using an amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) technique. We note significant differences between three morphologically distinct regions of each scale, as well as between scales from four spatially distinct regions of the fish. This study reveals a previously unreported property of fish scales and proves the value of a new AFM technique to the field of biomaterials.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Energy and NanoScience (LENS), Institute Center for Future Energy (iFES), Masdar Institute of Science and Technology , P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plummer
authors.forename: Tzu-Chieh
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chia-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiesa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010473:Perciformes / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012867:Skin / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013499:Surface Properties
keywords: AFM; adsorption; contact angle; fish scale; wetting