Role of Surface Chemistry in the Superhydrophobicity of the Springtail Orchesella cincta (Insecta:Collembola)

Collembola are ancient arthropods living in soil with extensive exposure to dirt, bacteria, and fungi. To protect from the harsh environmental conditions and to retain a layer of air for breathing when submerged in water, they have evolved a superhydrophobic, liquid-repelling cuticle surface. The nonfouling and self-cleaning properties of springtail cuticle make it an interesting target of biomimetic materials design. Recent research has mainly focused on the intricate microstructures at the cuticle surface. Here we study the role of the cuticle chemistry for the Collembola species Orchesella cincta (Collembola, Entomobryidae). O. cincta uses a relatively simple cuticle structure with prima…

Temperature-dependent phase transitions in water-oil-surfactant mixtures: Experiment and theory

We investigate temperature induced phase transitions in mixtures of water, oil, and a nonionic surfactant. By microcalorimetric measurements it is shown that the droplet-lamellar transition shows hysteresis so that it is strongly first order. The position of this transition and of the emulsification boundary are quantitatively described by an interfacial model which considers solely the temperature dependence of the spontaneous curvature. There is no fit parameter in the model. Remarkably, the positions of both boundaries do not depend on the bending moduli. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

Engineering von Proteinen an Oberflächen: Von komplementärer Charakterisierung zu Materialoberflächen mit maßgeschneiderten Funktionen

Tapered copolymers of styrene and 4‐vinylbenzocyclobutene via carbanionic polymerization for crosslinkable polymer films

Microemulsions: Phase transitions and their dynamics

By differential scanning microcalorimetry we investigate temperature-induced phase transitions and their dynamics in mixtures of water, oil and a non-ionic surfactant. Special emphasis is on an investigation of the transition from a lamellar to a microemulsion phase and on the emulsification failure. The first-order phase transition from a lamellar to a microemulsion phase leads to heat changes up to 1k BT per surfactant molecule. These large values for the latent heat are quantitatively described by an interfacial model which takes into account the temperature dependence of the spontaneous curvature.

Thermodynamic and kinetic properties of water–oil–surfactant mixtures

Abstract We present experimental data on thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the emulsification failure of a droplet-phase microemulsion, and model them by a bending free energy. In contrast to most other models used to describe water–oil–surfactant mixtures no entropic contributions are included in the present description. Still, there is quantitative agreement between theory and measurements, even though there are no free parameters in our model – only experimentally accessible material constants appear.

Engineering Proteins at Interfaces: From Complementary Characterization to Material Surfaces with Designed Functions

Abstract Once materials come into contact with a biological fluid containing proteins, proteins are generally—whether desired or not—attracted by the material's surface and adsorb onto it. The aim of this Review is to give an overview of the most commonly used characterization methods employed to gain a better understanding of the adsorption processes on either planar or curved surfaces. We continue to illustrate the benefit of combining different methods to different surface geometries of the material. The thus obtained insight ideally paves the way for engineering functional materials that interact with proteins in a predetermined manner.

Detaching Microparticles from a Liquid Surface.

The work required to detach microparticles from fluid interfaces depends on the shape of the liquid meniscus. However, measuring the capillary force on a single microparticle and simultaneously imaging the shape of the liquid meniscus has not yet been accomplished. To correlate force and shape, we combined a laser scanning confocal microscope with a colloidal probe setup. While moving a hydrophobic microsphere (radius 5-10  μm) in and out of a 2-5  μm thick glycerol film, we simultaneously measured the force and imaged the shape of the liquid meniscus. In this way we verified the fundamental equations [D. F. James, J. Fluid Mech. 63, 657 (1974)JFLSA70022-112010.1017/S0022112074002126; A. D.…

Adaptive Wetting-Adaptation in Wetting

Many surfaces reversibly change their structure and interfacial energy upon being in contact with a liquid. Such surfaces adapt to a specific liquid. We propose the first order kinetic model to describe dynamic contact angles of such adaptive surfaces. The model is general and does not refer to a particular adaptation process. The aim of the proposed model is to provide a quantitative description of adaptive wetting and to link changes in contact angles to microscopic adaptation processes. By introducing exponentially relaxing interfacial energies and applying Young's equation locally, we predict a change of advancing and receding contact angles depending on the velocity of the contact line…

Submicrometer-Sized Roughness Suppresses Bacteria Adhesion.

Biofilm formation is most commonly combatted with antibiotics or biocides. However, proven toxicity and increasing resistance of bacteria increase the need for alternative strategies to prevent adhesion of bacteria to surfaces. Chemical modification of the surfaces by tethering of functional polymer brushes or films provides a route toward antifouling coatings. Furthermore, nanorough or superhydrophobic surfaces can delay biofilm formation. Here we show that submicrometer-sized roughness can outweigh surface chemistry by testing the adhesion of E. coli to surfaces of different topography and wettability over long exposure times (>7 days). Gram-negative and positive bacterial strains are tes…

Grafting Silicone at Room Temperature—a Transparent, Scratch-resistant Nonstick Molecular Coating

Silicones are usually considered to be inert and, thus, not reactive with surfaces. Here we show that the most common silicone, methyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane, spontaneously and stably bonds on glass-and any other material with silicon oxide surface chemistry-even at room temperature. As a result, a 2-5 nm thick and transparent coating, which shows extraordinary nonstick properties toward polar and nonpolar liquids, ice, and even super glue, is formed. Ten microliter drops of various liquids slide off a coated glass when the sample is inclined by less than 10°. Ice adhesion strength on a coated glass is only 2.7 ± 0.6 kPa, that is, more than 98% less than ice adhesion on an uncoated…

Latent Heat of Spontaneous-Curvature-Induced Lamellar-to-Microemulsion Transitions

Using differential scanning microcalorimetry we examine the latent heat of the temperature-induced structural transition from a lamellar to a microemulsion phase in a H2O/n-octane/C12E5 (n-dodecyl pentanethyleneglycol ether) system. The associated latent heat increases strongly with surfactant concentration yielding heat changes up to 1kB T per surfactant molecule. These large values are quantitatively described by an interfacial model which takes into account the temperature dependence of the spontaneous curvature. The model explains our data points without considering contributions to the free energy by thermal fluctuations, entropy of mixing, undulations of the lamellae and renormalizati…

Synthesis of Mesoporous Supraparticles on Superamphiphobic Surfaces

A method for mesoporous supraparticle synthesis on superamphiphobic surfaces is designed. Therefore, supraparticles assembled with nanoparticles are synthesized by the evaporation of nanoparticle dispersion drops on the superamphiphobic surface. For synthesis, no further purification is required and no organic solvents are wasted. Moreover, by changing the conditions such as drop size and concentration, supraparticles of different sizes, compositions, and architectures are fabricated.

Oscillations in the dynamics of temperature-driven phase separation

We examine the dynamics of the phase separation of a single phase of water-in-oil microemulsion droplets towards a phase of smaller droplets coexisting with a water-rich phase. Oscillations are observed in the turbidity of the mixture and in the specific heat, when this transition is induced by a continuous temperature increase. The oscillations indicate an unusual type of dynamics which involves an energy barrier only to be overcome by a large number of droplets collectively. It is due to the spontaneous curvature of the water-oil-interface, and conservation of volumes.

Collapse of Linear Polyelectrolyte Chains in a Poor Solvent: When Does a Collapsing Polyelectrolyte Collect its Counterions?

To better understand the collapse of polyions in poor solvent conditions the effective charge and the solvent quality of the hypothetically uncharged polymer backbone need to be known. In the present work this is achieved by utilizing poly-2-vinylpyridine quaternized to 4.3% with ethylbromide. Conductivity and light scattering measurements were utilized to study the polyion collapse in isorefractive solvent/nonsolvent mixtures consisting of 1-propanol and 2-pentanone, respectively, at nearly constant dielectric constant. The solvent quality of the uncharged polyion could be quantified which, for the first time, allowed the experimental investigation of the effect of the electrostatic intera…

Cationized albumin-biocoatings for the immobilization of lipid vesicles

Tethered lipid membranes or immobilized lipid vesicles are frequently used as biomimetic systems. In this article, the authors presented a suitable method for efficient immobilization of lipid vesicles onto a broad range of surfaces, enabling analysis by quantitative methods even under rigid, mechanical conditions-bare surfaces such as hydrophilic glass surfaces as well as hydrophobic polymer slides or metal surfaces such as gold. The immobilization of vesicles was based on the electrostatic interaction of zwitterionic or negatively charged lipid vesicles with two types of cationic chemically modified bovine serum albumin (cBSA) blood plasma proteins (cBSA-113 and cBSA-147). Quantitative an…