Download or read book Environmental Analysis of Biologically Inspired Self-cleaning Surfaces written by Laura Raibeck and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biologically inspired design is used as an approach for sustainable engineering. Taking a biologically inspired approach, one abstracts ideas and principles from nature, an inherently sustainable system, and uses them in engineering applications with the goal of producing environmentally superior designs. One such biological idea with potential environmental benefits for engineering is microscale and nanoscale surface roughness found on the Lotus plant and many other surfaces in nature. These surfaces repel water and aid in contaminant removal; this self-cleaning phenomenon is called the "Lotus Effect," in honor of the plant first observed to exhibit it. The structures responsible for the Lotus Effect inspired research and development of many technologies capable of creating hydrophobic, self-cleaning surfaces, and many potential self-cleaning surface applications exist beyond nature's intended application of cleaning.