Author(s)

G. Chen, Q. Cong, Y. Feng & L. Ren

Abstract

Many biological surfaces are hydrophobic because of their complicated composition and surface microstructure. Butterflies were selected to study their characteristics by Confocal Light Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Contact Angle measurement. The contact angle of the water droplets on the butterfly wings surface consistently measured to be more than 140º. The dust on the surface can be easily cleaned by moving spherical droplets when the inclining angle is larger than 3°. It can be concluded that the butterfly wing’s surface possess a water-repellent, self-cleaning, or \“Lotus-effect” characteristic. Contact angle measurement of the wings’ surface with and without squamas showed that the water-repellent characteristics are a consequence of the

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