LiNaBioFluid

Brief description and aims of work

The Institute of Biology II (Zoology) at RWTH Aachen University investigates several zoological research topics such as neurobiology, animal physiology, cell biology, biomimetics and didactics. Being part of a technical university with a large teaching hospital, the Zoology has much interdisciplinary cooperation with medical research, physics and engineering which shape the research at the institute. Focus of the biomimetic group is a characterization of biological surfaces, which typically represent a highly specialized primary interface between a living being and its environment. Superhydrophobic and antiadhesive surfaces of plants and insects as well as the superhydrophilic surface of moisture harvesting lizards are investigated since almost a decade. The research is complemented with an identification of functional principles and their abstraction for technical applications. Insights in how to functionalize surfaces for certain wetting effects and liquid transport phenomena shall be used to improve engineering and medical applications. Within the project LiNaBioFluid, the Institute of Biology II characterizes the micro- and nano structures of moisture harvesting lizard and bark bug integuments. In particular surface properties such as topology, wetting properties and fluid transport in capillary channels are investigated. This characterization includes various methods, e.g. atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, functional analyses of surface-liquid-interaction, condensation measurement and high-speed video microscopy, as well as surface replication methods.

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