Water on the surface of a lotus leaf

The Lotus effect in material science is the observed self-cleaning property found with lotus plants. In some Eastern systems, the lotus plant is a symbol of cleanliness. Although lotuses prefer to grow in muddy rivers and lakes, the leaves remain clean. Image File history File links Image taken by Wolf Friedmann. ... Materials science includes those parts of chemistry and physics that deal with the properties of materials. ... Species Nelumbo lutea (American Lotus) Nelumbo nucifera (Sacred Lotus) Nelumbo is a genus of water flowers commonly known as lotus and the only genus in the family Nelumbonaceae. ... Species Nelumbo lutea (American Lotus) Nelumbo nucifera (Sacred Lotus) Nelumbo is a genus of water flowers commonly known as lotus and the only genus in the family Nelumbonaceae. ...

Botanists who have studied lotus leaves have found that they have a natural cleaning mechanism. Botany is the scientific study of plant life. ...

Their microscopic structure and surface chemistry mean that the leaves never get wet. Rather, water droplets roll off a leaf's surface like mercury, taking mud, tiny insects, and contaminants with them. This is known as the Lotus Effect. General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 200. ...

Some nanotechnologists are developing methods to make paints, roof tiles, fabrics and other surfaces that can stay dry and clean themselves in the same way as the lotus leaf. A mite next to a gear set produced using MEMS, the precursor to nanotechnology. ...

In one method ^[1] an aluminium surface is made superhydrophobic by immersing it in sodium hydroxide for several hours followed by spin coating a layer of perfluorononane to a thickness of 2 nanometer. This procedure increases the water contact angle from 67° to 168° and this effect can be explained by Cassie's law. Electron microscopy shows that the aluminium surface resembles that of a lotus surface with a porous micro structure containing trapped air. General Name, Symbol, Number aluminium, Al, 13 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 13, 3, p Appearance silvery Atomic mass 26. ... Superhydrophobic materials have surfaces that are extremely difficult to wet with water contact angles in excess of 150°. Many of these very hydrophobic materials made by nature rely on Cassies law and are biphasic on the submicrometre level with one component air. ... Flash point non flammable Supplementary data page Structure and properties n, εr, etc. ... Spin coating is a procedure used to apply uniform thin films to flat substrates. ... A nanometre (American spelling: nanometer) is 1. ... // In general Image from a video contact angle device. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... The electron microscope is a microscope that can magnify very small details with high resolving power due to the use of electrons rather than light to scatter off material, magnifying at levels up to 500,000 times. ...

External links

There is more info on the lotus effect here:

1. International Space University: http://lotus-shower.isunet.edu/the_lotus_effect.htm
2. University of Bonn: http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/system/lotus/en/lotus_effect_html.html

References

• Barthlott, W. & C. Neinhuis, 1997: The purity of sacred lotus or escape from contamination in biological surfaces, Planta 202: 1-8.
• ^  Stable Biomimetic Super-Hydrophobic Engineering Materials Zhiguang Guo, Feng Zhou, Jingcheng Hao, and Weimin Liu J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 2005; 127(45) pp 15670 - 15671; (Communication) DOI: 10.1021/ja0547836 Abstract Electron microscopy