Project description
Tiny combs inspired by spiders could untangle nanofibers and enhance application
Nanofibers are about 100 times smaller in diameter than a human hair. Their minuscule dimensions alone make them difficult to manipulate. Add to that their tendency to 'stick' to other materials and handling them becomes a nightmare, impeding development of the wealth of applications they promise. Nature has endowed a quirky little spider with a row of leg bristles like a miniature comb that the spider uses to comb out the strands of silk it produces. BioCombs4Nanofibers plans to develop a way to mimic this system on a man-made surface. Its careful characterisation could lead to novel nanotools that are anti-adhesive when it comes to nanofibers, opening the door to easier nanofiber processing and a myriad of nanofiber applications.
Objective
Challenge: Nanofibers are constantly drawing the attention of material scientists and engineers as their surface-to-used-material-ratio is beneficial for, e.g. medical applications. However, technical nanofiber processing, transportation or even simple things as spooling is inhibited by their attraction to any surface by van der Waals forces, the adhesive forces also enabling geckos to stick to the wall. Recent research aims for scale-up of the controllable production of nanofibers though have not enabled an easier handling and thus their application is still limited. A specific kind of nanofibers are nanofibrous protrusions of adherent cells and microorganisms. The interaction of these fibers with nanostructures is a key feature for their controlled adhesion at natural or artificial surfaces.
Inspiration by nature: One major problem for handling of nanofibers is their stickiness to almost any surface due to van der Waals forces. However, there is a biological example to show how to tackle this problem in the future: cribellate spiders bear a specialized comb, the calamistrum, to handle and process nanofibers, which are assembled to their structural complex capture threads. These 10 – 30 nm thick fibers do not stick to the calamistrum due to a special fingerprint-like nanostructure. This structure causes the nanofibers to not smoothly adapt to the surface of the calamistrum, but rather minimizes contact and thus reduce the adhesive forces between the nanofibers and the calamistrum.
Radically new technological approach: The transfer of these bionic comb structures to a technical surface will enable that future tools for nanofiber handling (covered with such a nanostructure) are antiadhesive towards nanofibers. Similar nanostructures can hinder the adhesion of nanofibrous protrusions of cells or microorganisms, which may enable cell-repellent or antiseptic areas on medical devices and implants.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering fibers
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology implants
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.2. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.2.1. - FET Open
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
4040 Linz
Austria
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.