Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Other.potential.applications.for.this.technology.include.textiles.and.color-shifting.paints.
(for.cars,.buildings,.and.other.applications)..For.these.applications,.advantages.include.vibrant.
colors,.color.changing.surfaces,.and.resistance.to.chemical.corrosion.and.fading.(the.color.
should.be.unaffected.as.long.as.the.nanostructure.is.intact)..Furthermore,.the.harmful.chem-
icals.and.heavy.metals.used.in.current.pigments.could.be.avoided.using.this.technology.
9.4.3 Solar Panels for Clean energy
Another. important. application. of. butterly. wing-inspired. nanotechnology. is. in. solar.
panels..The.hierarchical.architectures.of.butterly.wings.have.a.light-harvesting.function..
Biomimetic.replicas.of.butterly.scales.can.serve.as.solar.collectors..These.artiicial.wing.
structures.have.great.potential.to.be.used.as.optical.diffusers.or.coverings.that.maximize.
solar. cell. light. absorption. (Martín-Palma. 2008).. By. using. the. nanostructures. of.
Morpho
.
wings.as.a.template.and.doping.them.with.certain.solutions,.they.can.be.imprinted.onto.
solar.cells..Studies.have.shown.improved.absorption.and.eficiency.compared.to.conven-
tional.dye-sensitized.cells..For.example,.Zhang.et.al..(2009).showed.that.the.light-harvest-
ing.eficiency.of.quasi-honeycomb-like.structure.photoanode,.which.was.templated.from.
a.butterly.wing,.was.higher.than.normal.titania.photoanode..Bioinspired.solar.cells.were.
about.10%.more.eficient.than.the.conventional.dye-sensitized.solar.cells..Liu.et.al..(2010).
fabricated.a.TiO
2
.replica.by.ultrasonication,.which.manifested.high.surface.area,.enhanced.
light.absorbance.in.the.visible.range.of.400-500.nm,.and.had.a.narrow.band-gap,.demon-
strating. their. potential. applications. in. solar. cells. for. light. harvesting.. Chen. et. al.. (2011).
showed.that.the.Au/TiO
2
.wing.replica.exhibits.the.high-harvesting.capability.and.pres-
ents. superior. photocatalytic. activity.. Specially. structured. TiO
2
. electrodes. will. be. able. to.
eficiently. convert. light. energy. to. electrical. energy.. Such. photocatalysts. will. be. able. to.
further.improve.light.collection.in.solar.cell.devices.
Another.beneit,.especially.of.the.College.of.Nanoscale.Science.and.Engineering's.con-
cern,. is. the. fabrication. process.. Although. solar. panels. maybe. effective. power. genera-
tors,.the.current.high.cost.manufacturing.process.has.limited.many.companies,.such.as.
Solyndra.and.others,.from.propelling.the.solar.market.above.fossil.fuels..In.order.to.meet.
the.energy.demand.of.today.and.the.future,.solar.panels.need.to.be.highly.eficient.and.
produced. cheaply.. Butterly-inspired. design. and. fabrication. of. solar. panels. provide. a.
favorable. alternative. to. current. commercially. available. solar. cell. devices,. since. they. can.
be.printed.in.massive.quantities.using.the.already.prepared.artiicial.wing.replica.(Zhang.
et.al..2009)..Butterly.wing.scale-inspired.nanostructures.provide.a.simple,.fast,.cheap,.and.
high.eficient.approach.to.clean.energy.
9.4.4 Other Potential Applications of Artificial Photonic Crystals
Additionally,. artiicial. photonic. crystals. that. mimic. butterly. wing. structures. may. be.
used.as.optical.elements.in.computing.and.communications,.photonic.integrated.circuits.
(ICs),. and. memory. devices. (Huang. et. al.. 2006,. Kang. et. al.. 2010,. Tang. et. al.. 2012).. They.
may.further.be.used.as.micro-.and.nanostructured.devices.for.UV.LEDs,.high.eficiency.
photonic. devices,. controllable. UV. relectors. (that. can. be. used. indoors,. outdoors,. and. in.
space),.magneto-optic.spatial.light.modulators.and.optical.waveguides,.surface-enhanced.
Raman.Scattering.(SERS).substrates,.microwave-attenuating.media,.more.eficient.lasers,.
and. smart. windows. that. could. repel. dirt. and. automatically. change. transparency. levels.
(Huang. et. al.. 2006,. Zhang. et. al.. 2006,. Biró. et. al.. 2007,. Peng. et. al.. 2011,. Song. et. al.. 2011,.
Kowsari.and.Karimzadeh.2012,.Liu.et.al..2012b,.Tang.et.al..2012).
