Alon Haguy, Vitoshkin Helena, Ziv Carmit, Gunamalai Lavanya, Sinitsa Sergey, Kleiman Maya
Inter-Faculty Graduate Biotechnology Program, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot 7610001, Israel.
Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Research Organization, Rishon LeZion 7505101, Israel.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Mar 30;15(7):2526. doi: 10.3390/ma15072526.
Modification of surface structure for the promotion of food safety and health protection is a technology of interest among many industries. With this study, we aimed specifically to develop a tenable solution for the fabrication of self-cleaning biomimetic surface structures for agricultural applications such as post-harvest packing materials and greenhouse cover screens. Phytopathogenic fungi such as are a major concern for agricultural systems. These molds are spread by airborne conidia that contaminate surfaces and infect plants and fresh produce, causing significant losses. The research examined the adhesive role of microstructures of natural and synthetic surfaces and assessed the feasibility of structured biomimetic surfaces to easily wash off fungal conidia. Soft lithography was used to create polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replications of (tomato) and (elephant ear) leaves. Conidia of were applied to natural surfaces for a washing procedure and the ratios between applied and remaining conidia were compared using microscopy imaging. The obtained results confirmed the hypothesis that the dust-repellent leaves have a higher conidia-repellency compared to tomato leaves which are known for their high sensitivities to phytopathogenic molds. This study found that microstructure replication does not mimic conidia repellency found in nature and that conidia repellency is affected by a mix of parameters, including microstructure and hydrophobicity. To examine the effect of hydrophobicity, the study included measurements and analyses of apparent contact angles of natural and synthetic surfaces including activated (hydrophilic) surfaces. No correlation was found between the surface apparent contact angle and conidia repellency ability, demonstrating variation in washing capability correlated to microstructure and hydrophobicity. It was also found that a microscale sub-surface (tomato trichromes) had a high conidia-repelling capability, demonstrating an important role of non-superhydrophobic microstructures.
改变表面结构以促进食品安全和健康保护是许多行业感兴趣的一项技术。通过本研究，我们专门旨在开发一种可行的解决方案，用于制造用于农业应用（如收获后包装材料和温室覆盖网）的自清洁仿生表面结构。植物致病真菌（如）是农业系统的主要关注点。这些霉菌通过空气传播的分生孢子传播，污染表面并感染植物和新鲜农产品，造成重大损失。该研究考察了天然和合成表面微观结构的粘附作用，并评估了结构化仿生表面轻松洗去真菌分生孢子的可行性。采用软光刻技术制作了（番茄）和（象耳）叶片的聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）复制品。将的分生孢子应用于天然表面进行清洗程序，并使用显微镜成像比较施加的分生孢子与残留分生孢子之间的比例。获得的结果证实了以下假设：与以对植物致病霉菌高度敏感而闻名的番茄叶相比，具有防尘功能的叶具有更高的分生孢子排斥性。本研究发现，微观结构复制并不能模拟自然界中发现的分生孢子排斥性，并且分生孢子排斥性受多种参数的混合影响，包括微观结构和疏水性。为了研究疏水性的影响，该研究包括对天然和合成表面（包括活化（亲水）表面）的表观接触角的测量和分析。未发现表面表观接触角与分生孢子排斥能力之间存在相关性，这表明清洗能力的变化与微观结构和疏水性相关。还发现微观尺度的亚表面（番茄毛状体）具有较高的分生孢子排斥能力，这表明非超疏水微观结构具有重要作用。
