Preparation of the Oxygen Supply Device in Water by Using a Honeycomb Films

Abstract

Oxygen is an essential source for humans or autonomous underwater vehicles. However, the underwater activity is limited in present, because of the limited capacity of diving cylinders. In nature, there are some insects, which utilize superhydrophobic hair structures as physical gills, semipermanently living in water. We focused on this physical gill, which was called plastron and was trapped air bubble at the surface, and attempted to prepare artificial plastrons by using self-organized honeycomb-patterned films. In this paper, we show the preparation of artificial plastrons and the measurement of their oxygen permeability. We found that durable honeycomb-patterned films resisted the water pressure can be prepared by using polybutadiene and poly (bisphenol A carbonate), and dissolved oxygen inwater was transferred to oxygen consumption bottle inside though the porous films. These data suggest that the honeycomb-patterned films may be used as artificial plastrons.