Surface tension biomimetics need to have a transplant or repair performed. Microvelia exploit surface tension by creating a surface tension gradient that propels them forward by releasing a surfactant behind them through a tongue-like protrusion. Biomimetic engineering was used in a creative and fun way to make and edible cocktail boat that mimicked the ability of microvelia to propel themselves on the surface of water by means of a phenomenon called the marangoni effect. Burton and her colleagues used 3D printing to make small plastic boats that released different types of alcohol behind the boat to lower the surface tension and create a
Dewetting Dewetting In fluid mechanics, dewetting is one of the processes that can occur at a solid–liquid or liquid–liquid interface. Generally, dewetting describes the process of retraction of a fluid from a non-wettable surface it was forced to cover. The opposite process—spreading of a liquid on a substrate—is called wetting. The factor determining the spontaneous spreading and dewetting for a drop of liquid placed on a solid substrate with ambient gas, is the so-called spreading coefficient S: formula_1 where formula_2 is the solid-gas surface tension, formula_3 is the solid-liquid surface tension and formula_4 is the liquid-gas surface tension (measured for the