Arunachalam Abinaya, Oosterhoff Tim, Breet Isabel, Dijkstra Peter, Mohamed Yunus Roshan Akdar, Parisi Daniele, Knegt Bram, Macel Mirka, Kamperman Marleen
Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 3, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Arboretum West 98, Almere, The Netherlands.
Commun Mater. 2025;6(1):101. doi: 10.1038/s43246-025-00823-1. Epub 2025 May 19.
The carnivorous species employ hair-like appendages called trichomes that secrete a deadly adhesive consisting of an acidic polysaccharide, sugars, organic acids, and water to capture prey insects. Here, we develop a sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides using hyaluronic acid in a sugar-based natural deep eutectic solvent to mimic the composition and trapping mechanism of the mucilage. We formulate trichome biomimetic adhesives that become sprayable with added water to lower their viscosity, which can then regain the required adhesiveness as water evaporates up to the equilibrium content. Using a custom indentation setup, we measure promising adhesion energies between 9.5-14.5 µJ over one week, along with the formation of elongated fibrils (>2.3 cm) for the best-performing sample. Additionally, the material shows no phytotoxicity for over two weeks and effectively immobilizes western flower thrips through multiple contact points with the material in Petri dish bioassays, highlighting its efficacy and trapping mechanism akin to natural trichomes.
肉食性物种利用称为毛状体的毛发状附属物，这些毛状体分泌一种由酸性多糖、糖、有机酸和水组成的致命粘合剂来捕获猎物昆虫。在此，我们使用透明质酸在基于糖的天然深共晶溶剂中开发了一种化学农药的可持续替代品，以模拟粘液的成分和捕获机制。我们配制了毛状体仿生粘合剂，添加水后可喷雾以降低其粘度，随着水蒸发至平衡含量，粘合剂随后可恢复所需的粘性。使用定制的压痕装置，我们在一周内测量到有前景的粘附能在9.5 - 14.5 μJ之间，并且性能最佳的样品会形成细长的纤维（>2.3厘米）。此外，该材料在两周多的时间内没有表现出植物毒性，并且在培养皿生物测定中通过与材料的多个接触点有效地固定了西花蓟马，突出了其功效以及类似于天然毛状体的捕获机制。
