God’s brilliant designs for creation helps mankind innovate once again
Self-filling water bottle takes cues from desert beetle

(Phys.org)—Biomimicry is the term given to using nature as an inspiration for sustainable technology ideas, and a young company has joined the biomimicry brigade with its prototype self filling water bottle, which mimics the Namib desert beetle. NBD Nano, a startup of four graduates with degrees in biology, organic chemistry, and mechanical engineering, hopes to bring their prototype to market. They say that, like this beetle, their bottle can pull water from the air. Their self-filling water bottle is said to be capable of storing up to three liters every hour.

The desert beetle in focus can live in an area which gets only 0.5″ of rainfall a year. Its shell is covered in bumps, and the way the bumps are constructed are key to its survival. Humidity in the air accumulates on the shell until water droplets form. They roll down the beetle’s back and directly into its mouth. The NBD Nano team drew from the natural shell design in constructing a bottle that could take advantage of the same water-collecting process. The result is that the bottle is able to continually fill itself up. They describe their process as making use of a nano-scale surface to enhance water condensation. The surface of the bottle is covered with hydrophilic (water-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repellent) materials.

Read more: http://phys.org