Our amphipathic film is inspired by the Stenocara beetle of the Namib Desert. Stenocara meets its daily water requirement through the use of hydrophilic nodules and hydrophobic channels that extract water vapor from the atmosphere and direct the water into its mouth. Our goal at amphipathic films for water collection is to apply this natural technology on a macroscopic scale. We will use thiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), linear arrangements of nanoparticles on a substrate, to mimic the hydrophobic and hydrophilic matrix of the Stenocara beetle to collect water from air.
