Leaf Water Repellency as an Adaptation to Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Environments

Adaptations that reduce water retention on leaf surfaces may increase photosynthetic capacity of cloud forests because carbon dioxide diffuses slower in water than air. Leaf water repellency was examined in three distinct ecosystems to test the hypothesis that tropical montane cloud forest species have a higher degree of leaf water repellency than species from tropical dry forests and species from temperate foothills-grassland vegetation. Leaf water repellency was measured by calculating the contact angle of the leaf surface and the line tangent to a water droplet through the point of contact on the adaxial and the abaxial surface. Leaf water repellency was significantly different between the three study areas. The hypothesis that leaf water repellency is higher in cloud forest species than tropical dry forests and temperate foothills-grassland vegetation was not confirmed in this study. Leaf water repellency was lower for cloud forest species (adaxial surface = 50.8°; abaxial surface = 82.9°) than tropical dry forest species (adaxial surface = 74.5°; abaxial surface = 87.3°) and temperate foothills-grassland species (adaxial surface = 77.6°; abaxial surface = 95.8°). The low values of leaf water repellency in cloud forest species may be influenced by presence of epiphylls and loss of epicuticular wax on the leaf surfaces.     

部分蝽类昆虫翅表微纳结构与浸润性研究

蝽类昆虫属于半翅目Hemiptera异翅亚目Heteroptera,其前翅基半部骨化成革质,比端半部膜质要硬得多。本研究采用接触角测量仪、扫描电子显微镜、傅里叶红外光谱仪对20种蝽类昆虫前翅的革质、膜质区浸润性、微观结构和化学成分进行了研究。研究结果显示：(1)蝽类昆虫翅表浸润性存在明显差异,接触角为40.66°～138.37°。(2)6种蝽类昆虫翅表革质区比膜质区的疏水性强,具有乳突、不规则凸起、皱纹和刚毛等粗糙结构。特别是柱状乳突结构(直径0.702±0.170μm,高度1.516±0.293μm,间距1.191±0.132μm)有效地使革质区表面更疏水。相反,4种蝽类昆虫翅表的膜质区比革质区更疏水,椭圆形突起、褶皱和分泌物密度更高。而在10种蝽类昆虫中,疏水性没有显著差异,革质和膜质区的翅面结构相似,仅具有大小不一的隆起和分泌物。(3)蝽类昆虫翅表分布着长链烃类、脂肪酸酯和脂肪酸醇构成的蜡质层。栖息于植物中上层的蝽类昆虫疏水性较强。蝽类昆虫不同硬度的翅表的浸润性归因于微米级微观结构和表面蜡质层的联合效应及生境的协同作用。本研究结果可为不同硬度、不同质地、不同结构、不同性能的材料的...     

Universal Soldering of Lithium and Sodium Alloys on Various Substrates for Batteries

The high theoretical specific capacity of lithium (Li) metal and the nonflammability of solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs) make the solid‐state Li metal battery a promising option to develop safe batteries with high energy density. To make the switch from liquid to solid‐state electrolyte, the high interfacial resistance resulting from the poor solid–solid contacts between Li metal and SSEs needs to be addressed. Herein, a one‐step soldering technique to quickly coat molten Li onto different substrates including metals, ceramics, and polymers is presented. It is deduced that the surface energy and viscosity of the molten Li can be tuned by adding alloy elements, which improves the wettability against various substrates. When soldered onto the surface of garnet‐based SSEs, the Li alloys exhibit significantly improved contact, which leads to an interface resistance as low as ≈7 Ω cm². While cycling under high loads, the newly plated Li still maintains tight contact with the garnet surface and demonstrates excellent electrochemical stability. Several Li binary alloys as well as sodium (Na) binary alloys are successfully tested on various substrates to demonstrate the versatility of this soldering technique for potential battery applications.     

Molecular dynamics study on explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid over solid substrate: considering interface wettability of Argon/MoS2

A molecular dynamics (MD) study is carried out to reveal the phenomenon about the normal and explosive boiling of ultra-thin liquid argon film absorbed on MoS₂ surface with different wetting conditions. The three-phase molecular system is composed of a solid MoS₂ wall, a liquid argon film and a vapour argon region. Initially, the three-phase simulated system is thermally equilibrated at a low temperature. Then the MoS₂ heat source is suddenly heated up to two different high temperatures those far above critical point of liquid argon, and the argon experienced a phase transition process in the NVE ensemble. The simulation results show that the good wetting properties and high heat source temperature dramatically enhance phase transition efficiency, accelerating the heat transfer rate, shortening the boiling time, and increasing the evaporation rate, and they have remarkable effects on temperature and pressure histories, density distribution during whole boiling process. Explosive boiling is more likely to occur at high superheated degree, but evaporation occurs at low superheated degree. In addition, at a high superheated degree, it can be conclude from the simulation results that the better wetting properties of the solid-liquid interface is, the shorter time of the explosive boiling is needed.     

Foliar water and solute absorption: an update

The absorption of water and solutes by plant leaves has been recognised since more than two centuries. Given the polar nature of water and solutes, the mechanisms of foliar uptake have been proposed to be similar for water and electrolytes, including nutrient solutions. Research efforts since the 19th century focussed on characterising the properties of cuticles and applying foliar sprays to crop plants as a tool for improving crop nutrition. This was accompanied by the development of hundreds of studies aimed at characterising the chemical and structural nature of plant cuticles from different species and the mechanisms of cuticular and, to a lower extent, stomatal penetration of water and solutes. The processes involved are complex and will be affected by multiple environmental, physico-chemical and physiological factors which are only partially clear to date. During the last decades, the body of evidence that water transport across leaf surfaces of native species may contribute to water balances (absorption and loss) at an ecosystem level has grown. Given the potential importance of foliar water absorption for many plant species and ecosystems as shown in recent studies, the aim of this review is to first integrate current knowledge on plant surface composition, structure, wettability and physico-chemical interactions with surface-deposited matter. The different mechanisms of foliar absorption of water and electrolytes and experimental procedures for tracing the uptake process are discussed before posing several outstanding questions which should be tackled in future studies.     

Interrelationship between water film thicknesses and contact angles and a model for CO2 adhesion

Thermodynamics of contact angle phenomena is strongly affected by the presence of thin liquid films. However, at present, studies for CO₂/brine/mineral systems only consider the films apart from contact angles. In this paper, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been performed to simultaneously investigate the interrelationship between water film thicknesses and water contact angles. Two types of contact angles were considered namely Young’s contact angle (no water film is present) and contact angle with film (a stable film is present). The results showed that as Young’s contact angle increased, film thickness decreased which leading to increasing of contact angle with film. The effects of CO₂-mineral pre-contact have also been investigated and it has been found that on mediate hydrophilic surfaces (Q³), water films were present when CO₂ droplets were placed above the surfaces, however, water films were absent when CO₂ droplets directly contact with the surfaces. This phenomenon implies that water films on mineral surfaces have a possibility to rupture and a film rupture mechanism for CO₂ adhesion on hydrated mineral surfaces was proposed. These results may provide new information on interactions among CO₂, water/brine and mineral to better understand the behaviour of CO₂ during geologic sequestration.     

典型天气下植物叶面滞尘动态变化

在天气变化频繁的春季选择了几种典型天气观测了油松、女贞、珊瑚树和三叶草叶面滞尘动态变化及其与气象因子和空气中颗粒物浓度的关系。研究表明:(1)供试物种的叶面滞尘量(g/m2)由大到小依次为油松(4.57—5.45),珊瑚树(2.23—5.85),女贞(2.14—4.27)和三叶草(0.12—0.38);(2)油松和三叶草叶面滞尘量无明显变化,而天气状况对女贞和珊瑚树叶面滞尘影响明显;(3)连续2d(17.1、14.8 mm)的降雨后,女贞和珊瑚树叶面滞尘量降低了50%以上;极大风速对女贞和珊瑚树叶面滞尘量的影响均呈现先升高后降低,在极大风速为14 m/s时达到峰值;相对湿度大于80%时,女贞和珊瑚树叶面滞尘量明显降低;空气中高浓度的颗粒物可使女贞和珊瑚树叶面滞尘在4—5 d达到饱和。