The Eureka Moment
Sharks are one of the few slow-moving marine creatures on which algae and other microorganisms don’t thrive. Researchers believed that sharkskin’s chemical makeup kept organisms from growing on it. But Anthony Brennan, a professor in the University of Florida’s Materials Science and Engineering Department, thought something else might be behind the skin’s ability to thwart microbes.
The Research
Above, electron microscope image of sharkskin at 200 microns. Below, Sharklet’s ‘surface technology’ mimics the surface of sharkskin.
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Using an impression taken from a live shark, Brennan found that the pattern of interlocking diamonds on the shark’s skin block bacteria and other growths. Brennan engineered a “surface technology” comprised of billions of tiny, raised microscopic diamond shapes that mimic the height, width, length and curvature of the sharkskin surface. His tests showed the sharkskin design surface is effective at inhibiting the growth of Staph a, E. coli and other bacteria. The patented surface, which Brennan calls Sharklet, can be applied as a plastic-like film or incorporated into a manufactured metal part.
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