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Home > News > Nanotech Out on a Wing

October 31st, 2006

Nanotech Out on a Wing

Abstract:
Researchers in China have used the wing of the cicada to template polymer films with nanoscopic features. The research demonstrates once again how nature can provide inspiration for science.

What does a colorful and noisy backyard insect have to do with nanotechnology? Plenty, according to Jin Zhang and Zhongfan Liu, both professors at Peking University. A team of researchers led by Zhang and Liu have used the wings of cicadas, ubiquitous insects best known for their acoustic skills, as stamps to pattern polymer films with nanometer-sized structures. The wings of these insects are characterized by highly ordered arrays of closely spaced microscopic pillars. When these wings are pushed down upon a smooth polymer film, they create a negative imprint of the array pattern.

Source:
Science News

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