Desert Beetle May Give Scientists a Way to Combat Frost on Materials

A beetle may help researchers deal with frost. Scientists have created a beetle-inspired surface that uses chemical micropatterns to control the growth of condensation and frost.

In this latest study, the researchers described how they used photolithography to pattern chemical arrays that attract water over top of a surface that repels water, thereby controlling or preventing the spread of frost. The inspiration for this new project actually came from the Namib Desert Beetle, which lives in one of the hottest places in the world, yet still collects airborne water.

The beetle possesses a bumpy shell. The tips of these bumps have the ability to attract moisture to form drops. However, the sides of the shell are smooth and repel water, creating channels that lead directly to the beetle's mouth.

"I appreciate the irony of how an insect that lives in a hot, dry desert inspired us to make a discovery about frost," said Jonathan Boreyko, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The main takeaway from the Desert Beetle is we can control where dew drops grow."

The researchers developed a frost-controlling chemical pattern on a surface only about the size of a centimeter. However, they believe that the area could be scaled up to large surface areas with thirsty, hydrophilic patterns overtop of a hydrophobic, or water-repellant surface.

"We made a single dry zone around a piece of ice," said Boreyko. "Dew drops preferentially grow on the array of hydrophilic dots. When the dots are spaced far enough apart and one of the drops freezes into ice, the ice is no longer able to spread frost to the neighboring drops because they are too far away. Instead, the drops actually evaporate completely, creating a dry zone around the ice."

The findings could be huge when it comes to controlling frost or ice on surfaces such as vehicles.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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