’Sticky tape’ for water droplets mimics rose petal

17 September 2013 - A new nanostructured material with applications that could include reducing condensation in airplane cabins and enabling certain medical tests without the need for high tech laboratories has been developed by researchers at the University of Sydney. "The newly discovered material uses raspberry particles - so-called because of their appearance - which can trap tiny water droplets and prevent them from rolling off surfaces, even when that surface is turned upside down," said Dr Andrew Telford from the University's School of Chemistry and lead author of the research recently published in the journal, Chemistry of Materials. The ability to immobilise very small droplets on a surface is, according to Dr Telford, a significant achievement with innumerable potential applications. Raspberry particles mimic the surface structure of some rose petals. "Water droplets bead up in a spherical shape on top of rose petals," Dr Telford said. "This is a sign the flower is highly water repellent." The reasons for this are complex and largely due to the special structure of the rose petal's surface. The research team replicated the rose petal by assembling raspberry particles in the lab using spherical microand nanoparticles.