简介:Thewater-conductingnetworkofcapillariesinvascularplantshasevolvedoverhundredsofmillionsofyearsinordertobeabletocopewithbubbleclogging,aproblemwhichalsoaffectsmodernmicrofluidicdevices.Decadesofanatomicalstudieshaverevealedthatplantsgrowinginhabitatsinwhichtheformationofbubbles,oremboli,islikelytobeafrequentoccurrenceoftenhavevariousformsofgeometricalsculpturingontheinternalsurfacesofthexylemconduits.Thepossiblefunctionofsuchwallsculpturinghaslongbeenthesubjectofspeculation.Wehaveinvestigatedthehypothesisthatwallsculpturingisafunctionaladaptationdesignedtoincreasethewettabilityofthewallsofxylemconduits,aneffectwhichcouldbedescribedastheinverseofthewell-knownlotus-effect.Ourresultsshowthatwallsculpturingdoesenhancewettability.Importantly,theoreticalcalculationsrevealthatthegeometricparametersofvarioustypesofwallsculpturingaresuchthattheresultingsurfacesaresufficientlyroughtoenhancewettability,butnotsignificantlyrougher.Theresultsprovideanappealinganswertothelong-standingdebateonthefunctionofwallsculpturinginxylemconduits,andmayprovidebiomimeticcluesfornewapproachestotheremovalofbubblesinmicrofluidicchannels.