Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment

Freshwater resources that humans can use directly account for 2.5 percent. Fog collection from the atmosphere is an eco-friendly and potential solution to the water shortage crisis. This study presents a biomimetic approach to fog collection inspired by the Namib Desert beetle and cacti. Using fused...

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Main Authors: Chia-Yi Lin, Ting-An Teng, Haw-Kai Chang, Po-Yu Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Biomimetics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/10/3/143
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author Chia-Yi Lin
Ting-An Teng
Haw-Kai Chang
Po-Yu Chen
author_facet Chia-Yi Lin
Ting-An Teng
Haw-Kai Chang
Po-Yu Chen
author_sort Chia-Yi Lin
collection DOAJ
description Freshwater resources that humans can use directly account for 2.5 percent. Fog collection from the atmosphere is an eco-friendly and potential solution to the water shortage crisis. This study presents a biomimetic approach to fog collection inspired by the Namib Desert beetle and cacti. Using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing and atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment, we fabricated hybrid wettability surfaces combining hydrophobic polypropylene (PP) and super hydrophilic polycarbonate (PC). These surfaces significantly improved fog collection efficiency, achieving 366.2 g/m<sup>2</sup>/h rates by leveraging the Laplace pressure gradient and hybrid wettability gradient. This work provides an efficient and effective methodology to fabricate hybrid wetting surfaces and can be potentially applied to fog harvesting and microfluidic devices.
format Article
id doaj-art-904302b232d1465bb7f3ab56513bf2ea
institution OA Journals
issn 2313-7673
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Biomimetics
spelling doaj-art-904302b232d1465bb7f3ab56513bf2ea2025-08-20T02:11:00ZengMDPI AGBiomimetics2313-76732025-02-0110314310.3390/biomimetics10030143Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma TreatmentChia-Yi Lin0Ting-An Teng1Haw-Kai Chang2Po-Yu Chen3Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, TaiwanDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, TaiwanDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, TaiwanDepartment of Materials Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 300044, TaiwanFreshwater resources that humans can use directly account for 2.5 percent. Fog collection from the atmosphere is an eco-friendly and potential solution to the water shortage crisis. This study presents a biomimetic approach to fog collection inspired by the Namib Desert beetle and cacti. Using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing and atmospheric pressure plasma (APP) treatment, we fabricated hybrid wettability surfaces combining hydrophobic polypropylene (PP) and super hydrophilic polycarbonate (PC). These surfaces significantly improved fog collection efficiency, achieving 366.2 g/m<sup>2</sup>/h rates by leveraging the Laplace pressure gradient and hybrid wettability gradient. This work provides an efficient and effective methodology to fabricate hybrid wetting surfaces and can be potentially applied to fog harvesting and microfluidic devices.https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/10/3/143fog collectionbio-inspiredNamib Desert beetlecacti3D printingatmospheric pressure plasma
spellingShingle Chia-Yi Lin
Ting-An Teng
Haw-Kai Chang
Po-Yu Chen
Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment
Biomimetics
fog collection
bio-inspired
Namib Desert beetle
cacti
3D printing
atmospheric pressure plasma
title Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment
title_full Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment
title_fullStr Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment
title_full_unstemmed Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment
title_short Desert Beetle-Inspired Hybrid Wettability Surfaces for Fog Collection Fabricated by 3D Printing and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment
title_sort desert beetle inspired hybrid wettability surfaces for fog collection fabricated by 3d printing and atmospheric pressure plasma treatment
topic fog collection
bio-inspired
Namib Desert beetle
cacti
3D printing
atmospheric pressure plasma
url https://www.mdpi.com/2313-7673/10/3/143
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AT tinganteng desertbeetleinspiredhybridwettabilitysurfacesforfogcollectionfabricatedby3dprintingandatmosphericpressureplasmatreatment
AT hawkaichang desertbeetleinspiredhybridwettabilitysurfacesforfogcollectionfabricatedby3dprintingandatmosphericpressureplasmatreatment
AT poyuchen desertbeetleinspiredhybridwettabilitysurfacesforfogcollectionfabricatedby3dprintingandatmosphericpressureplasmatreatment