ホヤの持つニップルアレイ構造の機能解明を目的とした接着力評価

抄録

Because the micro/nano-scale structures of the living things have various functions, the micro/nano-scale structures have been attracting a lot of attention. In some terrestrial organisms, nano-scale structure (nipple-array) is considered to act as the self-cleaning surface by reducing adhesion force. Some aquatic organisms, such as ascidians, also have nipple array on their body surface, but few studies measure the adhesion force of the nipple-arrays in a submerged environment like the sea. Therefore, we aim to measure the adhesion force of the nipple-array in water, in order to evaluate the functional properties of the nano-structures on the ascidian surface and to consider their biomimetic applications. In this study, for simplifying, we measured the adhesion force of a synthetic nipple array, MOSMITE^TM, and a flat surface. The adhesion force was measured with an atomic force microscope and the measurements were carried out in the water. The adhesion force of the MOSMITE^TM (1.3 ± 0.3 nN) was smaller than that of the flat (4.6 ± 0.4 nN). These results indicate that the nipple-array reduces the adhesion force more in the water compared with the flat surface.