1. Nature’s nanotechnology, bio­mimicry,
and making the superpowers of your
dreams a reality
Prepared by:
Sarbast Mamnd

2. Outline: what is a natural nanomaterial? Shark Skin The Lotus Effect
Butterfly Colors
Gecko
Toucan Beaks
A Material Stronger than Steel and More Elastic than Nylon?
References

3. what is a natural nanomaterial?
All materials can in principle be described at the nanoscale.
By natural nanomaterials here we maen that materials belong to the natural world (animals and mineral) without human modification or processing, and that have remarkable properties because of their inherent nanostructure.

4. Shark Skin
Sharks have been swimming in the oceans for millions of years without the problematic accumulation of algae and bacteria on the surface of their skin.
This is because the nano‑scale patterns on the shark’s skin deflect the accumulation of barnacles, algae, and bacteria which is called anti‑fouling .
Algae and bacteria tend to settle on surfaces and ultimately establish colonies and biofilms. It is easier to colonize a smooth surface, whereas establishing a biofilm over a rough surface requires too much energy for colonization and makes signaling between cells in the colony difficult.

5. Shark Skin
These surfaces are essential for maintaining functional pipelines, ships, submarines, and other submerged infrastructures and technologies. Until now, anti‑fouling techniques have primarily involved coating surfaces with chemicals that can be toxic to humans and the environment, in addition to their bacterial and algal targets.
bufalin (3,4-dihydroxybufa-20,22 dienolide)

6. The Lotus Effect
The super­hydrophobic power of self cleaning: The leaves of the lotus flower exhibit extremely water‑repellent properties due to micro and nano‑structures on the leaf surface.
These structures allow the plant to have a magnificent self‑cleaning function
This concept has been extrapolated and applied to sealing windshields, waterproofing phones, and protecting fabrics, wood, and other surfaces from dirt, dust, or car exhaust particle residue.

7. Butterfly Colors
Butterfly wings are layers of nanoparticles seperated by layers of air.
The thickness of the layers changes the colors that we see.
These nanostructures are coated with hydrophobic wax crystals
approximately 1 nm in diameter.
This makes the surface at the nanoscale quite rough.

8. Butterfly Colors
Besides repelling water (hydrophobic) and color, the nanoscales make butterfly wings self-cleaning.
These nanostructures
don’t just make me pretty. They also keep me clean by shedding water and dirt!
= water
= dirt

9. Butterfly Colors The ideas are endless!
Depending on what you need, these nanoparticles might be made into flourescent proteins, DNA, viruses, or dyes.
These flourescent nanoscale polymer fibers might be used to reflect visible, UV and IR radiation for cooling or transmit certain wavelengths of light for warming.
They can also used for bar coding or other functions.
The ideas are endless!

10. Gecko:
Geckos have the unique ability to scale vertical surfaces with both strong attachment of their toes to the surface coupled with easy and rapid removal.
They are able to do this due to the attractive forces of millions of nano‑scale hairs on their toes known as setae and spatula.
These create a “frictional adhesive” to other surfaces by increasing
the surface area of the toe—meaning more of the toe actually
interacts with any given surface.
The attractive forces at play here are known
as Van der Waals forces.
These are weakly attractive forces that exist
between nearly all chemicals and materials.
Geckos turn this weakly attractive force into an
adhesive attraction to be reckoned with by
multiplying it by the millions of setae and
spatulae on their toes.

11. Gecko:
500,000 hairs per toe
Hundreds of nanoprojections (spatulae) per hair
Adhesive force in one foot = 100 newtons
One dime-sized spot could lift a child
weighing 45 pounds.

12. Toucan Beaks : Strong and Light
The nanostructure of toucan beaks inspires automotive panels that could protect passengers in crashes.
And inspires construction of ultralight aircraft components.

13. Toucan Beaks
The exterior of the toucan beak is made up of overlapping nanosized tiles of keratin, the same protein that makes up hair, fingernails, and horn.
Keratin tiles glued together
The interior of the beak is a rigid foam made of a network of nanosized bony fibers connected by membranes. This allows the beak to absorb high-energy impacts.

14. Horns such as those of the impala are made up of keratin covering a core of live bone

15. A Material Stronger than Steel and More Elastic than Nylon?
For 450 million years, spiders have made silk, protein-based nanomaterials that self-assemble into fibers and sheets.  
If we figure out how to copy this nanscience feat, scientists would like to use the material to create an elevator to space.

17. References:
sustainable-nano.com/.../natures-nanotechnology-bio-mimicry-and-maki.

18. Thank you
Any question?