Hydrophobic durability characteristics of butterfly wing surface after freezing cycles towards the design of nature inspired anti-icing surfaces.

ABSTRACT: The hydrophobicity and anti-icing performance of the surfaces of some artificial hydrophobic coatings degraded after several icing and de-icing cycles. In this paper, the frost formation on the surfaces of butterfly wings from ten different species was observed, and the contact angles were measured after 0 to 6 frosting/defrosting cycles. The results show that no obvious changes in contact angle for the butterfly wing specimens were not obvious during the frosting/defrosting process. Further, the conclusion was inferred that the topography of the butterfly wing surface forms a special space structure which has a larger space inside that can accommodate more frozen droplets; this behavior prevents destruction of the structure. The findings of this study may provide a basis and new concepts

SUBMITTER: Chen T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792227 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature