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SYBP: Biologie und Physik

SYBP 3: POSTER

SYBP 3.3: Poster

Thursday, March 30, 2000, 15:00–18:00, D

Wetting of Plant Leaves — •Alexander Otten, Jutta Wolf, and Stephan Herminghaus — Universität Ulm, Abteilung Angewandte Physik, D-89069 Ulm

The wetting properties of plant leaves have recently attracted considerable interest in connection with the so-called Lotus-effect, which consists mainly of a remarkable capability of repelling water droplets. The question how this dynamic hydrophobicity comes about turns out to be a challenge to theory, since some of the leaves are microscopically hydrophilic. We present two simple but predictive models for the Lotus-effect, one for microrough leaves and one for hairy ones. First experimental results are presented which are consistent with our models, but rule out alternative theories presented earlier by other authors.