Box-patterned geckos have evolved a unique skin that actively repels water droplets. A network of tiny hairs cover the lizard’s dome shaped scales, trapping air and forcing water to bead up in droplets. As a result, droplets sometimes collide, and when that happens, changes in the surface area result in a release of kinetic energy that self-propels the droplets right off the lizard’s body. Scientists hypothesize that this ‘gekovescense’ developed as a method of self-cleaning and to prevent water-hungry microbes from feasting on a gecko’s skin.
The team identified not one but several mechanisms responsible for clearing gecko skin of water. Like a waterproof lotus leaf, the gecko skin’s structure encourages small dewdrops to aggregate together, preventing water from evenly distributing all over the surface. As more water comes together, the droplets grow. When the drops reach a large enough size, they begin to interact with forces such as wind and gravity, while being simultaneously repelled by the hydrophobic gecko spines. A water droplet measuring about 2 millimeters across, for example, would be feeling the repulsive power of about 100,000 skin spines. Eventually the external processes win, and the droplet is propelled off the skin.
Geckos, it seems, may not only aid in bio-inspired adhesive design, but also in potential self-drying surfaces. Perhaps every window of the future will be embedded with its own synthetic gecko skin, banning condensation before it can even form.
Picture Credit : Google
