Through natural evolvement in thousands of years, biosurfaces have become highly adaptable to display their biological functions perfectly. Interestingly, they have developed micro-/nanostructures with gradient features to achieve smart wetting controls, such as ultra-hydrophobic water repellency in lotus leaf, directional water collection in wette

The first volume in an exciting new series, Annual Review of Nano Research, this formidable collection of review articles sees renowned contributors from eight different countries tackle the most recent advances in nanofabrication, nanomaterials and nanostructures.The broad coverage of topics in nanotechnology and nanoscience also includes a special focus on the hot topic of biomedical applications of nanomaterials. The important names contributing to the volume include: M R Bockstaller (USA), L Duclaux (France), S Forster (Germany), W Fritzsche (Germany), L Jiang (China), C Lopez (Spain), W J Parak (Germany), B Samori (Italy), U S Schubert (The Netherlands), S Shinkai (Japan), A Stein (USA), S M Hou (China), and Y N Xia (USA).The volume serves both as a handy reference for experts active in the field and as an excellent introduction to scientists whose expertise lies elsewhere but who are interested in learning about this cutting-edge research area.

Master simple to advanced biomaterials and structures with this essential text. Featuring topics ranging from bionanoengineered materials to bio-inspired structures for spacecraft and bio-inspired robots, and covering issues such as motility, sensing, control and morphology, this highly illustrated text walks the reader through key scientific and practical engineering principles, discussing properties, applications and design. Presenting case studies for the design of materials and structures at the nano, micro, meso and macro-scales, and written by some of the leading experts on the subject, this is the ideal introduction to this emerging field for students in engineering and science as well as researchers.

Through millions of years' natural selection, sharkskin has developed into a kind of drag-reducing surface. This book shows how to investigate, model, fabricate and apply sharkskin's unique surface properties, creating a flexible platform for surface and materials engineers and scientists to readily adopt or adapt for their own bio-inspired materials.Rather than inundate the reader with too many examples of materials inspired by nature, sharkskin has been chosen as the center-piece to illustrate accurate 3D digital modeling of surfaces, complete numerical simulation of micro flow field, different fabrication methods, and application to natural gas pipelining. This is a must-read for any researcher or engineer involved in bio-inspired surfaces and materials studies.

Bioinspired Design of Materials Surfaces reviews novel methods and technologies used to design surfaces and materials for smart material and device applications. The author discusses how materials wettability can be impacted by the fabrication of micro- and nanostructures, anisotropic structures, gradient structures, and heterogeneous patterned structures on the surfaces of materials. The design of these structures was inspired by nature, including lotus, cactus, beetle back and butterfly wings, spider silk, and shells. The author reviews the various wettability functions that can result from these designs, such as self-cleaning, directional adhesion, droplet driving, anti-adhesion, non-wetting, liquid repellent properties, liquid separation, liquid splitting, and more. This book presents a key reference on how to fabricate bioinspired structures on materials for desired functions of materials wettability. It also discusses challenges, opportunities and many potential applications, such as oil-water separation devices, water harvesting devices and photonic device applications.

High-surface-area materials have recently attracted significant interest due to potential applications in various fields such as electrochemistry and catalysis, gas-phase catalysis, optics, sensors and actuators, energy harvesting and storage. In contrast to classical materials the properties of high-surface-area materials are no longer determined by their bulk, but by their nanoscale architecture. Nanoporous gold (np-Au) represents the fascinating class of mesoporous metals that have been intensively investigated in recent years. The current interest and the increasing number of scientific publications show that np-Au by itself is an outstanding nano-material that justifies a book devoted to all aspects of its properties and applications. The resulting publication is a discussion of this unique nano-material and is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the field. The book provides a broad, multi-disciplinary platform to learn more about the properties of nanoporous gold from an inter-disciplinary perspective. It starts with an introduction and overview of state-of-the-art applications and techniques characterizing this material and its applications. It then covers the progress in research within the last years. The chapters are in-depth overviews written by the world's leading scientists in the particular field. Each chapter covers one technique or application so that the reader can easily target their favoured topic and will get the latest and state-of-the-art information in the field.