Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China.
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qiqihar University, Qiqihar 161003, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Oct 11;15(40):47822-47832. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c11357. Epub 2023 Oct 2.
Many functions of terrestrial plant leaves rely on the regenerable epidermal wax layer. Biomimetic autocrine waxy materials (AWMs) inspired by renewable epidermal waxes are attracting increasing attention. However, the growth properties of the wax layer remain unclear, limiting the development of this promising material. This work focuses on the stimulated growth characteristics and microstructural regulation methods of the waxy layers. It is found that the wax layers exhibit a corresponding behavior of changing their surface micromorphology under force, heat, solvents, and other stimuli during the self-growth process, and as a result of which, various types of fine surface microstructures such as grids, rings, stripes, pattern copying, and printing can be self-built on their surfaces. The composition of the surface autocrine wax layer changes with the autocrine time, and this finding may be useful for the separation and purification of alkane mixtures. In addition, the surface wax layer possesses the ability to self-heal and strengthen itself at the damage site after being stimulated by injury, similar to the damage-response behavior of a bark surface. Such multi-stimulus response behavior described here provides a platform for the discovery of more functional materials and microstructural self-construction techniques and can also serve as a basis for their applications.
许多陆生植物叶片的功能依赖于可再生的表皮蜡层。受可再生表皮蜡启发的仿生自分泌蜡质材料（AWMs）越来越受到关注。然而，蜡层的生长特性尚不清楚，这限制了这种有前途的材料的发展。本工作重点研究了蜡层的受激生长特性和微观结构调控方法。研究发现，蜡层在自生长过程中会在力、热、溶剂等刺激下表现出相应的改变表面微形貌的行为，从而可以在其表面自构建各种类型的精细表面微观结构，如网格、环、条纹、图案复制和印刷。表面自分泌蜡层的组成随自分泌时间而变化，这一发现可能有助于烷烃混合物的分离和纯化。此外，表面蜡层在受到损伤刺激后，在损伤部位具有自我修复和自我强化的能力，类似于树皮表面的损伤响应行为。这里描述的这种多刺激响应行为为发现更多功能材料和微观结构自构建技术提供了一个平台，也可为其应用提供基础。
