Plastic That Mimics Insect Wings Kills Bacteria

Plastic that Mimics Insect Wings Kills Bacteria

Approximately 40,000 people require a transplant for one of the crucial parts of the eye, called the cornea. Many donors aren’t available and artificial ones can become infected very easily due to bacteria- at least that’s what we used to think. Albert Lee, a materials scientist at UC Irvine, recently developed a new plastic that is designed to protect people’s eyesight. He was inspired by tiny pillars on insect wings that kill bacteria when bacteria lands on it. Yee works in nanotechnology, which is a field that deals with structures on the scale of less than 100 billionths of a meter. When Yee learned about medical researchers wanting to mimic the surfaces of wings on cicadas and dragonflies, he went to work immediately. Him and his colleagues decided on PMMA, which is short for polymethylmethacrylate. Yee and his team designed a mold similar to the nanospikes on the cicada’s wing. The heated PMMA was pressed against a mold and came out similar to a cicada’s wing. In many different tests, the mold was able to kill many thin-walled bacterias such as E. ColiPlastic that Mimics Insect Wings Kills Bacteria

Approximately 40,000 people require a transplant for one of the crucial parts of the eye, called the cornea. Many donors aren’t available and artificial ones can become infected very easily due to bacteria- at least that’s what we used to think. Albert Lee, a materials scientist at UC Irvine, recently developed a new plastic that is designed to protect people’s eyesight. He was inspired by tiny pillars on insect wings that kill bacteria when bacteria lands on it. Yee works in nanotechnology, which is a field that deals with structures on the scale of less than 100 billionths of a meter. When Yee learned about medical researchers wanting to mimic the surfaces of wings on cicadas and dragonflies, he went to work immediately. Him and his colleagues decided on