ABSTRACT
“Biomimetics or biomimicry,” under the industrial ecology is a form of engineering concerned with principles of the ecosphere. It captures the rules that govern the functioning of the ecosphere and uses biological analogy and ecosystem metaphor. Some of the nature-inspired innovations include manufacturing wet materials by imitating nature (e.g., spider silk); the surface of the gecko’s foot; mussel adhesive which works underwater and sticks to everything, even without a primer; and beading of water on nonpolar surfaces such as waxy leaves (e.g., lotus effect) (Figure 7.1) [1]. (a): (i) SEM image of the surface of a lotus leaf and (ii) a higher magnification with hierarchical structures clearly resolved. (iii) A water drop on the surface of the lotus leaf attains a nearly spherical shape. (From <uri xlink:href="<a href="https://spie.org/documents/Newsroom/Imported/1441/1441_5423_0_2009-01-16.pdf" target="_blank">https://spie.org/documents/Newsroom/Imported/1441/1441_5423_0_2009-01-16.pdf</a>" xmlns:xlink="<a href="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" target="_blank">https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink</a>"><a href="https://spie.org/documents/Newsroom/Imported/1441/1441_5423_0_2009-01-16.pdf" target="_blank">https://spie.org/documents/Newsroom/Imported/1441/1441_5423_0_2009-01-16.pdf</a></uri>.) (b) The lotus effect. Water forms droplets on the tips of the epidermal protrusions and collects pollutants, dirt, and small insects as it rolls off the leaf. (<uri xlink:href="<a href="https://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/biomimeticsborrowingfrombiology/" target="_blank">https://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/biomimeticsborrowingfrombiology/</a>" xmlns:xlink="<a href="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" target="_blank">https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink</a>"><a href="https://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/biomimeticsborrowingfrombiology/" target="_blank">https://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/articles/article/biomimeticsborrowingfrombiology/</a>.</uri>) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315371054/19a59aa6-1bb4-4d28-94c7-9f8cac6f3585/content/fig7_1_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
