LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A University of Louisville engineering team is using cicadas as the inspiration to create an anti-bacterial material.
The group is studying the wings of the North American cicada because they're inhospitable to bacteria, and they repel water. By mimicking that wing structure, they were able to create a material for potential use for things like food service and healthcare facilities.
"All the structures we discovered under the microscope are challenging to recreate because they are so small and three-dimensional," said Chuang Qu, a senior research engineer at UofL's J.B. Speed School of Engineering and the leader of the team. "Using a two-step self-assembly, plus glancing angle deposition, we were able to recreate the structure and confirm that, like their cicada wing template, they have these antimicrobial properties."
The team tested their material with E. Coli and found it destroyed the bacteria with dagger-like spikes. Now the researchers looking for ways to scale up production and apply it to curved surfaces.
"Right now, we can just use it on flat surfaces," Qu said.
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