Wetting agent reduces surface tension: mammals

1 of 1 Bronchial anatomy detail of alveoli / Patrick J. L.. / License

Alveoli in mammalian lungs manage surface tension through use of a wetting agent whose concentration varies with alveolar expansion.

Biomimicry Taxonomy

	Modify >
	Modify chemical/electrical state >
	Surface tension

Biomimetic Application Ideas

Laundry detergents that adjust to surface tension, microparts that self-assemble using surface tension.

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[Collapse all sections] Summary

"The individual alveoli have somewhat the same problem as the pair of lungs--why doesn't one alveolus expand to the point of explosion…before the others begin to inflate?…Lungs filled with air take more force to inflate than do lungs deliberately filled with a salt solution. With air inside, the outward pressure difference across the alveolar walls must work against tissue and the surface tension of the layer of water inside the alveoli. The latter opposes the formation of additional air-water interface as the alveoli expand. The surface tension, though, is drastically reduced by a wetting agent secreted by cells in the alveolar walls. But, and here's the trick, the effectiveness of the wetting agent depends on its concentration, which falls as the alveoli expand. Thus the force of surface tension rises sharply as an alveolus inflates, opposing further inflation. As a result of this wetting agent (or surfactant or detergent), the alveolar wall has a functionally curved stress-strain plot…and the requisite nonlinear elasticity." (Vogel 2003:53)

About the inspiring organism

Mammalia
Mammalia

Organism/taxonomy data provided by:
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2008 Annual Checklist

Bioinspired products and application ideas

Application Ideas: Laundry detergents that adjust to surface tension, microparts that self-assemble using surface tension.

Industrial Sector(s) interested in this strategy: Cleaning, microelectronics

References

Steven Vogel. 2003. Comparative Biomechanics: Life's Physical World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 580 p.

Wetting agent reduces surface tension: mammals

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