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David Wurtz 2005. Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering |
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I'm studying the microstructure of lotus plants, which creates
the "lotus effect" (see http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/system/lotus/en/lotus_effect_html.html)
. The lotus effect explains why water (or even honey) rolls right
off the lotus. There are millions of tiny mounds on the lotus
leaf, each with hundreds of even smaller (nanoscale) wax crystals.
This surface does not allow liquid to make intimate contact with
the leaf.
I examine their microstructure using a scanning electron microscope
(with such a microscope, you can see a scratch on the tip of
a needle.) One of my questions is: does one lotus repel water
differently than others due to a different microstructure?
Since I have been unable to find mature lotus leaves in winter, I am growing my own plants from seed (photo above). Even though the small leaves exhibit superhydrophoebicity, I think the microstructure may develop into more evenly spaced, similarly sized structures as the plants grow.
Click image to enlarge
Click here for high resolution image
