Specialised seeds can really float your boat

German scientists have developed a new artificial surface, inspired by floating seeds.

It could provide an alternative to the toxic paints currently used to prevent fouling on ship hulls.

Fouling by seaweeds and marine animals is a problem for the shipping industry, resulting in increased fuel costs.

Currently, the only solutions are highly toxic and environmentally damaging marine paints, which are specifically designed to leach biocides to prevent organisms settling on the hull.

Future work would include analysing the chemical composition of the seeds' surface to find out whether this adds to their anti-fouling properties.

Scientists at the Biomimetics-Innovation-Centre have developed a new anti-fouling surface based on a seed from a species of palm tree.

"These plants have seeds which are dispersed by the ocean currents.

"As it is an advantage for these seeds to remain free of fouling to allow them to disperse further, we guessed they might have specialised surfaces we could mimic," says Katrin Mühlenbruch,

a PhD researcher.

He is presenting the work at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow this month.

The researchers floated seeds from 50 species in the North Sea for 12 weeks. The seeds of 12 species showed no fouling at all.

"We then began by examining the micro-structure of the seeds' surfaces, to see if we could translate them into an artificial surface. The seeds we chose to mimic had a hairy-like structure," says Mühlenbruch.

"This structure might be especially good at preventing fouling because the fibres constantly move, preventing marine organisms from finding a place to settle."

Using a silicone base the scientists created an artificial surface similar to the seeds, with fibres covering the surface.

Currently, the new surface is being tried by floating it in the sea.

"Initial results are quite good," says Mühlenbruch. "But we still have a long way to go".