First published online September 11, 2009
Journal of Experimental Biology 212, 3148-3155 (2009)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2009
doi: 10.1242/jeb.033373
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sun, M.
Right arrow Articles by Liang, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sun, M.
Right arrow Articles by Liang, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Wetting properties on nanostructured surfaces of cicada wings

Mingxia Sun1,2, Gregory S. Watson3, Yongmei Zheng4, Jolanta A. Watson3 and Aiping Liang1,*

1 Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2 Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
3 School Of Pharmacy And Molecular Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia
4 School of Chemistry and Environment, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100191, China

* Author for correspondence (liangap{at}ioz.ac.cn)

Accepted 29 June 2009

This study has investigated the wettability of forewings of 15 species of cicadas, with distinctly different wetting properties related to their nanostructures. The wing surfaces exhibited hydrophilic or weak to strong hydrophobic properties with contact angles ranging from 76.8 deg. to 146.0 deg. The nanostructures (protrusions), observed using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), were classified into four types according to the patterning, diameter (82–148 nm), spacing (44–117 nm) and height (159–446 nm). Surface analysis by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed significant differences in wing membrane chemistry. Thus, wetting properties at the macroscopic scale were dependent on slight differences in nanoscale architecture and composition of the wax layer. This investigation offers insights into the diversity of nanostructuring and how subtle small-scale changes may facilitate large changes in wettability.

Key words: cicada, forewing, nanostructure, chemistry, hydrophobicity


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?