|
|
|
|
|
|
| Researchers at Jilin University, China, reviewed recent progress in the study of Salvinia leaves and their artificial replicas. |
CHANGCHUN, CHINA, Sept 16, 2021 - (ACN Newswire) - Several plants and animals have evolved surfaces with long-term (i.e., days to months) air-retainability to prevent wetting and submersion. One example is Salvinia, a plant floating on water. The secret "how do they maintain an air-mattress" has been unraveled by researchers.
 | | Salvinia leaves and the eggbeater structures |
Researchers at Jilin University reviewed recent progress in the study of Salvinia leaves and their artificial replicas. "Salvinia has complex multicellular hairs on the upper side of its leaves, and each group of four hairs is connected at the terminal ends, forming an eggbeater structure. The hairs are coated with hydrophobic wax crystals, while the patches at the terminal ends of the hairs lack wax crystals and are, therefore, hydrophilic. These features make the air-water interface more stable, exhibiting long-term air-retention ability," says author Huichao Jin of Jilin University in Changchun, China.
Since the air-retention ability of Salvinia leaves was discovered, researchers began to fabricate artificial Salvinia leaves and investigated their potential applications. However, the complex eggbeater structures present a difficult challenge for traditional manufacturing methods. In the past decade, photolithography, direct laser lithography, chemical vapor deposition, electrodeposition, electrostatic flocking, 3D printing, chemical etching, and plasma etching recently have been developed for fabricating Salvinia-inspired structures. However, the complex structures make many of these techniques unable to replicate the fine structures. Although direct laser lithography and 3D printing techniques succeed in fabricating fine structures, they cannot fabricate the hydrophilic tips at the end of hairs. Therefore, it is still challenging to fabricate artificial Salvinia leaves.
The robust air-mattress in Salvinia structures acts as a physical barrier for water to reach the substrate. This inspires many engineering applications, including drag reduction, water harvesting, evaporation, and repellence, oil/water separation, and thermal insulation. These works are currently limited to early laboratory demonstrations. There are still challenges in the development of artificial surfaces suitable for the complexity and variability of the real environment.
Jin and his colleagues are exploring the potential of Salvinia structures in preventing medical bacterial infection. "The air-mattress acts as a physical barrier for water to approach the substrate, and it can also act as a physical barrier for preventing bacteria reach substrates," says Jin. He points that traditional antibacterial surfaces involving antibiotics may cause drug resistance while the artificial Salvinia-inspired surfaces are free of antibiotics. Employing Salvinia structures to prevent medical bacterial infection may be a promising strategy.
Article details:
Jin et al., "Small structure, large effect: Functional surfaces inspired by Salvinia leaves" Small Structures (2021) https://doi.org/10.1002/sstr.202100079
Contact:
Dr. Huichao Jin
Jilin University
Email: jinhc@jlu.edu.cn
Press release distributed by Asia Research News for Jilin University.
Topic: Press release summary
Source: Jilin University
Sectors: Materials & Nanotech
http://www.acnnewswire.com
From the Asia Corporate News Network
Copyright © 2026 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. A division of Asia Corporate News Network.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Latest Press Releases
Peer To Peer Network (OTC: PTOP) Targets Revenue Inflection Point with MOBICARD 1.8 Launch Expected Within 30 Days 
Apr 25, 2026 07:03 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
EQIBank expands global, regulated Banking-as-a-Service platform for cross-border banking across fiat and digital assets
Apr 24, 2026 19:00 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
analytica Hanoi 2026 Makes Its Debut, Bringing the Global Science and Laboratory Platform to Northern Vietnam
Apr 24, 2026 12:05 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
FastX Announces Its Launch, a New Generation Global Trading Exchange
Apr 24, 2026 12:00 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
CMS (867.HK; 8A8.SG): NDA for the Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis Indication of Class 1 Innovative Drug MG-K10 Accepted in China
Apr 23, 2026 22:00 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
Smart Lighting Expo and Lighting Fair conclude successfully
Apr 23, 2026 19:33 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
Sisel International Appoints Pamela Ferry as General Manager of Australia and New Zealand to Support Regional Expansion
Apr 23, 2026 19:00 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
FastX Launching, a New Generation Global Trading Exchange
Apr 23, 2026 18:00 HKT/SGT
|
|
|
NEC Announces Strategic Collaboration with Anthropic Focused on Enterprise AI
Thursday, April 23, 2026 4:46:00 PM
|
|
|
Fujitsu and Carnegie Mellon University launch joint center for Physical AI
Thursday, April 23, 2026 4:19:00 PM
|
|
|
|
|
More Press release >> |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
