Ahmad Ishaq, Kan Chi-Wai
Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom 00852, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
Materials (Basel). 2016 Nov 3;9(11):892. doi: 10.3390/ma9110892.
Bio-inspired engineering has been envisioned in a wide array of applications. All living bodies on Earth, including animals and plants, have well organized functional systems developed by nature. These naturally designed functional systems inspire scientists and engineers worldwide to mimic the system for practical applications by human beings. Researchers in the academic world and industries have been trying, for hundreds of years, to demonstrate how these natural phenomena could be translated into the real world to save lives, money and time. One of the most fascinating natural phenomena is the resistance of living bodies to contamination by dust and other pollutants, thus termed as self-cleaning phenomenon. This phenomenon has been observed in many plants, animals and insects and is termed as the Lotus Effect. With advancement in research and technology, attention has been given to the exploration of the underlying mechanisms of water repellency and self-cleaning. As a result, various concepts have been developed including Young's equation, and Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter theories. The more we unravel this process, the more we get access to its implications and applications. A similar pursuit is emphasized in this review to explain the fundamental principles, mechanisms, past experimental approaches and ongoing research in the development of bio-inspired superhydrophobic textiles.
仿生工程已在众多应用中得到设想。地球上所有的生物体,包括动物和植物,都拥有自然发育而成的组织良好的功能系统。这些自然设计的功能系统启发着世界各地的科学家和工程师模仿该系统以供人类实际应用。数百年来,学术界和工业界的研究人员一直在努力证明如何将这些自然现象转化到现实世界中以拯救生命、金钱和时间。最引人入胜的自然现象之一是生物体对灰尘和其他污染物污染的抵抗力,因此被称为自清洁现象。这种现象在许多植物、动物和昆虫中都有观察到,被称为荷叶效应。随着研究和技术的进步,人们开始关注对疏水和自清洁潜在机制的探索。结果,包括杨氏方程、文泽尔理论和卡西 - 巴克斯特理论在内的各种概念应运而生。我们对这一过程的了解越多,就越能深入其内涵和应用。本综述强调了类似的探索,以解释仿生超疏水纺织品开发中的基本原理、机制、过去的实验方法和正在进行的研究。