Nanostructured surfaces and nanomaterials

This encompasses applied materials science and technology on the micro- and nanoscale. Functional biological surfaces, with interesting macroscopic properties. 

Biological surfaces that are known to be water-repellent, antibacterial or friction-reducing are characterized on the nanoscale, to better understand how this functionality is realized and to study whether we can duplicate this structure with maintaining the functionality on different materials and at larger scale (biomimicry). Micro- and nanostructures of the wings of insects, such as  dragonflies and cicadas are studied for this purpose. 

This research line furthermore includes using nanocomposite materials. As an example we study the interface of glass and epoxy in glass-reinforced materials that are used for making pipes for water and oil transport. In another project we study a biological coating for protecting wood in building, that consists of line seed oil with living fungi. And we do look into the addition of nanomaterials to textiles in order to change its macroscopic properties.  

Current projects:
- Smart Responsive Microbial Coatings (SRMC-II)
- Hi-tex
- DaVinciQD
- Future Pipe Industries (finished)