46 / 56
E u r o S c i C o n C o n f e r e n c e o n
Nanotechnology &
Smart Materials
Nano Research & Applications
ISSN 2471-9838
O c t o b e r 0 4 - 0 6 , 2 0 1 8
Am s t e r d a m , N e t h e r l a n d s
Nanotechnology & Smart Materials 2018
Page 74
T
hree key problems which ships are facing, are related to the fact that the ship
hull is in contact with water: drag, the largest part of the fuel consumption of
ships is due to the friction with the surrounding water; corrosion, a phenomenon
which is also largely related to the fact that the ship is in direct contact with the
surrounding sea water with its high content of salt; fouling, the growth of sea
organisms would not happen if the ship would be surrounded by air instead of
water. Latest developments in the area of bionic surfaces show that avoiding the
direct contact between a ship and the surrounding water appears feasible and
opens intriguing perspectives for practical applications. The floating water fern
Salviniamolesta
demonstrateshowpermanent layersof air canbekept underwater
for weeks. Within a joint research project of the Universities of Bonn, Karlsruhe
and Rostock, a thorough understanding of this recently discovered Salvinia effect
was achieved. This leads to the development of a novel type of artificial surfaces
which are based on their topographic structure and chemical functionality, keeping
a permanent layer of air under water. Meanwhile, such artificial surfaces are
capable of keeping an air layer under water for even much longer times than the
Salvinia plant itself, the prerequisite for the applications mentioned above using
artificial, specially designed surfaces which remain dry although being kept under
water. The design and fabrication of such artificial surfaces and their properties
including drag reduction will be discussed. The talk will give an overview of latest
developments based on this biomimetic approach and shows perspectives for
future applications ranging from drag reduction to future bionic antifouling ship
coatings
Biography
Prof. Dr. Thomas Schimmel holds a doctorate in physics from
the University of Bayreuth. So far he had professorships at
universities in Munich and Linz. Since 1996 he teaches at the
Institute of Applied Physics of Karlsruhe University, Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology (KIT), and participates in numerous
research projects. He is the initiator and spokesman of the re-
search network "Functional Nanostructures" in Baden-Würt-
temberg. Professor Schimmel is head of the working group for
nanostructuring and scanning probe technology.
thomas.schimmel@kit.eduThe Salvinia effect: perspectives for drag
reduction and antifouling using a permanent
layer of air under water
Thomas Schimmel
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany
Thomas Schimmel, Nano Res Appl Volume:4
DOI: 10.21767/2471-9838-C6-024