10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4033234.v1
Florian Hischen
Gerda Buchberger
Cristina Plamadeala
Oskar Armbruster
Ernst Heiss
Kai Winands
Martin Schwarz
Bert Jüttler
Johannes Heitz
Werner Baumgartner
Supplementary material from "The external scent efferent system of selected European true bugs (Heteroptera): a biomimetic inspiration for passive, unidirectional fluid transport"
In this work, we present structured capillaries that were inspired by the microstructures of the external scent efferent system as found in different European true bug species (Pentatomidae and Cydnidae). These make use of small, orientated structures in order to facilitate fluid movement towards desired areas where defensive substances are evaporated. Gland channels and microstructures were investigated by means of scanning-electron microscopy (SEM) and abstracted into three-dimensional models. We used these models to create scent channel replicas from different technical substrates (steel and polymers) by means of laser ablation, laser structuring and casting. Video analysis of conducted fluid-flow experiments showed that bug-inspired, artificial scent fluid channels can indeed transport different fluids (water solutions and oils/lubricants) passively in one direction (velocities of up to 1 mm s<sup>−1</sup>), while halting the fluid movement in the opposite. At the end of this contribution, we present a physical theory that explains the observed fluid transport and sets the rules for performance optimization in future work.
90301 Biomaterials
30402 Biomolecular Modelling and Design
Figshare
2018
2018-03-15
2018-03-15
Collection
10.1098/rsif.2017.0975
10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4033234
CC BY 4.0