Functional Surfaces in Biology Adhesion Related Phenomena Volume 2
This book is devoted to the rapidly growing area of science dealing with structure and properties of biological surfaces in their relation to particular function(s). This volume, written by a team of specialists from different disciplines, covers various
- PDF / 36,875,256 Bytes
- 274 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 66 Downloads / 186 Views
Functional Surfaces in Biology Adhesion Related Phenomena Volume 2
edited by
Stanislav N. Gorb Functional Morphology and Biomechanics, University of Kiel, Germany
123
Editor Prof. Stanislav N. Gorb Department of Functional Morphology and Biomechanics Zoological Institute University of Kiel Am Botanischen Garten 1–9 D-24098 Kiel Germany [email protected]
ISBN 978-1-4020-6694-8 e-ISBN 978-1-4020-6695-5 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-6695-5 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009927034 c Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover picture: Japanese gecko (Gekko japonicus). Background: scanning electron micrograph of the terminal contact elements of the gecko toe. See chapter M. Johnson, A. Russell, and S. Delannoy on surface characteristics of locomotor substrata and their relationship to gekkonid adhesion. Background picture: Stanislav N. Gorb (University of Kiel, Germany); Front picture: Naoe Hosoda (National Institute of Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan) Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Abstract
Biological surfaces represent the interface between living organisms and the environment and serve many different functions: (1) They delimit the organism, give the shape to the organism, and provide mechanical stability of the body. (2) They are barriers against dry, wet, cold or hot environments. (3) They take part in respiration and in the transport of diverse secretions, and serve as a chemical reservoir for the storage of metabolic waste products. (4) A variety of specialised surface structures are parts of mechano- and chemoreceptors. (5) The coloration and chemical components of surfaces are important components for thermoregulation, and are often involved in diverse communication systems. (6) A number of specialised surface structures may serve a variety of other functions, such as air retention, food grinding, body cleaning, etc. In spite of a huge number of publications, describing biological surfaces by the use of light and electron microscopy, exact working mechanisms have been clarified only for a few systems, because of the structural and chemical complexity of biological surfaces. However, biological surfaces hide a virtually endless potential for technological ideas for the development of new materials and systems. Because of the broad diversity of functions of biological surfaces, inspirations from biology may be interesting for a broad range of topics in engineering sciences: adhesion, friction, wear, lubrication, filtering, sensorics, wetting phenomena, self-cleaning, anti-fo
