Car windshield gets foggy when moisture nucleates into tiny droplets on the cold surface. Various approaches exist to prevent this eitehr by increasing the temperature of the surface or coating it with hydrophilic layer that cause the droplets to spread instead. In different approach, Chinese researchers got inspired by mosquito eyes that apparently never get foggy in their humid environment. The secret of this interesting property lies in the morphology of these eyes. Similar to lotus plant the mosquito eyes are a combination of micro- and nano-scopic features that cause the surface to be extremely hydrophobic. Therefore the eyes stay always dry and their vision clear.
Image by Peter Krsko - SEM micrograph of mosquito eye showing both micro- and nano-scopic structures.
Further reading:
Gao, X. et al.; The dry-style antifogging properties of mosquito compound eyes and artificial analogues prepared by soft lithography. Adv. Mater. doi: 10.1002/adma.200601946 (2007).
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