Nanotech Scientists Build on an Insect’s Odd Soccer Ball-Like Excretions to Design Ingenious Camouflage

Nanotechnology scientists build on an insect’s bizarre football-shaped secretions to design smart camouflage

Who Ivan Amato edited by Gary Stix

In the early 1950s, biologists at Brooklyn College were using an electron microscope to show that the leafhopper, a common insect about the size of a grain of rice and named for one of its signature behaviors, might be the agent of viral transmission. In their research, scientists happened to observe: in their words“certain ultramicroscopic bodies, hitherto undescribed,” on the wings of leafhoppers. In a 1953 note in the year Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological SocietyThey called these small, spherical, jack-like structures brochosomes, after a Greek word meaning “web of a web.”

Since then a fine but thin line of scientists and engineers have built a hyperspecialty anchored in brocosomes. These researchers are drawn to these subpoints of highly structured matter by the biological wonders they embody and the technological possibilities suggested by their highly porous forms and physical properties. Brochosome fans will no doubt be delighted to have encountered such an evolutionary twist.

“Our group was first introduced around 2015 by brochosomes, attracted by their nanoscale dimensions and intricate three-dimensional buckyball-like geometry,” he says. Tak-Sing Wongin biomedical and mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. “We were amazed at how consistently leafhoppers can produce complex structures at the nanoscale, especially considering that even with our most advanced micro- and nanofabrication technologies we struggle to achieve this uniformity and scalability.”

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Like anyone interested in these structures, Wong has been working to channel his brochosomes envy into creating a cabinet of technological curiosities based on brochosomes’ ability to absorb specific wavelengths of visible and ultraviolet light. Wong, with colleagues at Penn State and Carnegie Mellon University, has two US patents granted and others pending for processes for manufacturing synthetic brocosome counterparts.

Wong says synthetic brochosomes are suitable for a wide range of applications, including anti-reflective and camouflage materials, anti-counterfeiting, data encryption and an “optical security” tactic where hidden information becomes visible only when illuminated by, say, infrared or ultraviolet light. the light The researchers managed to collect it Grant from the Office of Naval Researchwhich is always looking for the next way to make it harder for adversaries to detect and track naval vessels, aircraft and other US military assets.

As Wong points out, much of the recent R&D is coming from around the world, inspired by brocosomes the ultra-reflective version that nature-made brocosomes add to the leaf-eater’s body. It’s not just cool optical physics: this trick of light turns insects into stealth on leaf surfaces, where hungry insects, birds and spiders search for prey.

Several forays into the biology of brocososomes have revealed that these natural nanoscale innovations are composed of proteins and lipids that are assembled into hidden nanospheres in specialized compartments of the insect’s Malpighian pits, which are kidney-like excretory organs. With their hind legs, the insects decorate their entire little heads with brochosome-studded microdroplets from their anus, resulting in light-absorbing cloaks that help them live another day.

But nanospheres are good for more than just hiding. In a growing list of concepts and prototypes for brocosomes-inspired technologies, Wong’s Penn State team joined Carnegie Mellon University researchers, led by mechanical engineers. Sheng Shennot only for camouflage, but with the aim of providing new materials for new security and encryption devices. technology it takes advantage of people’s inability to perceive infrared light.

While the researchers were making measurements of the optical and other physical aspects of the synthetic brochosomes, they noticed that “while these structures appeared identical under visible light, they showed striking contrasts in infrared images,” says Shen. And that sparked an idea for encryption and security technology that researchers are now pursuing. The team is wondering if it is possible to encode invisible infrared information into the visible spectrum. A small dot of active infrared brocosome material on the currency can serve as a signature of authenticity and add an additional barrier to counterfeiters.

The researchers analyzed it half a dozen ways to manufacture synthetic brochosomes of various sizes and geometries. Through the use of different polymeric, ceramic and metallic materials, the cabinet of techno curiosities inspired by brocosoms is increasingly striking.

A group of brochosomes-enthusiasts in China has reported a process for making a vibrant spectrum of color-giving particles by filling tiny indentations—“nanobowl”—spaces in silver brochsome structures with tiny polystyrene spheres. When the researchers adjusted the sizes of the spheres with a specific etching method, they were able to shape the electromagnetic interactions between the spheres and thus the apparent colors of the synthetic brocosome structures. in one ACS Nano paper where the researchers expanded on the color creation strategy, which they suggested opened a way to produce more permanent and stable colors compared to shorter-lived chemical dyes and pigments.

Another research group in China, trying to mimic the disguise feats of chameleons, cephalopods and other creatures, manufactured it. tungsten-based brocosome structures which do not reflect when electrically stimulated. A possible endpoint of this work could be energy-saving applications, windows that can regulate the solar energy and thermal energy passing through them throughout the day.

They’re on an even broader and more eclectic to-do list light harvesting electrodes it can create and cut energized electrons to make hydrogen fuel and self-cleaning surfaces to repel liquids and adhesives. Potential sensors are also listed adapted to detect specific bacteria and proteins for environmental protection and health applications. There is also the option of brochosomes-inspired particles, whose pores and surfaces can be adapted to carry specific drugs to target tissues.

The promise sounds huge, but the age of brosome-inspired technology isn’t an immediate possibility. “One of the major obstacles to the widespread use of synthetic brochosomes is the lack of scalable production technology, as their complex 3D shapes and nanoscale dimensions remain challenging to replicate at scale,” notes Wong.

Whether or not specific brocsome-inspired technologies make it to the finish line, Wong says he loves sharing his work with non-scientist family members and friends. “They are immediately captivated by the beauty of the soccer ball-like structures of brocosoms,” he says. “When I explain that the structures are 100 times thinner than the diameter of a hair, they hardly believe it.”

Meanwhile, Shen welcomes a humble side to this research romance with brocosms. “It’s a powerful reminder that innovation doesn’t always have to come from the human mind,” he says. “Sometimes nature has already solved the problems we are working on.”