Bio Inspired Anti Wetting Materials Derived from Natural Components

Abstract

quotThe existence of liquid repellent interfaces in nature has stimulated widespread research towards fabrication of bioinspired newlineanti-wetting materials utilizing numerous synthetic and naturally derived components. However, the earlier newlinereported approaches of naturally derived bio-inpsired materials suffer from durability concerns on prolonged newlineexposure to challenging physical and aqueous chemical settings. Most importantly, the existing approaches mostly newlinefail to provide a facile basis to further induce the desired chemical functionalities in the interfaces threedimensionally newlineto tailor the liquid wettability and modulate other physical parameters. The substitution of synthetic newlinecomponents with naturally derived eco-friendly alternatives with residual reactivity to tailor both the liquid wettability newlineand mechanical property for developing robust bio-inspired anti-wetting materials can prove vital for biomedical newlineapplications and tackling environmental issues. In this thesis, I have strategically exploited low-cost, naturally newlineabundant polymers and hydrogel to develop robust, three-dimensional, abrasion-tolerant anti-wetting materials newlineexploiting the catalyst-free Michael addition reaction and facile Schiff base reaction. The use of Michael addition newlinereaction allowed the three-dimensional induction of residual chemical reactivity into the substrates that gave the newlineopportunity to tailor the liquid wettability through appropriate post covalent modification with the desired chemical newlinefunctionalities and even modulate the mechanical property. The thesis entitled Bio-Inspired Anti-Wetting Materials newlineDerived from Natural Components is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the basics of liquid newlinewettability, the challenges associated with the existing bio-mimicked anti-wetting materials and the probable newlinesolutions. In Chapter 2, I have developed reactive protein nanoparticles for obtaining robust superhydrophobicity newlinewherein the presence of reactivity allowed to tailor the water wettability for controlled release of