The Namib beetle survives where rainfall is just over 1 centimeter per year, thanks to an extremely efficient water harvesting strategy from early frost.
When the lightest fog blows through the beetle's back, droplets of just 15-20 micrometres (millimeters) begin to gather on the humps on their backs. These bumps are surrounded by waterproof grooves. When a bump collects enough water to form a large drop, it will roll into the groove and flow into the animal's mouth.
Imitating the Namib beetle, two Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, created a material that can capture and control tiny droplets of water.
The idea of Robert Cohen and Michael Rubner dates back to 2001, and recently, they launched their product. It is essentially a material that combines super water-absorbing surfaces and super-water-based surfaces.
On the one hand is a layer of material like Teflon (pushing water), the other side is a rough structure made of silicon particles and electrostatic polymer at extremely small size, which can attract these droplets.
T. An
