文摘
The Gulf parrotfish (Scarus persicus) offers inspiration for a strategy to combat marine biofouling, a problem of great economic and environmental interest to the maritime community, through its use of a continually maintained, multifunctional, water-based mucus layer to cover its scales. In this study, to better understand the scale鈥搈ucus interface, we investigate the nanoscale hydrophilicity of the fish scales by comparing reconstructed force distance profiles obtained using an amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) technique. We note significant differences between three morphologically distinct regions of each scale, as well as between scales from four spatially distinct regions of the fish. This study reveals a previously unreported property of fish scales and proves the value of a new AFM technique to the field of biomaterials.
Keywords:
fish scale; wetting; adsorption; contact angle; AFM