ArticleJournal of the Royal Society, Interface2016
Neutral glycans from sandfish skin can reduce friction of polymers.
Article in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Research on the Anti-Erosion Mechanism of the Shell Surface Structure Based on Numerical Simulation.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Design of a Bioinspired Integrated Total Habitability Instrument for Planetary Exploration: A Review of Potential Sensing Technologies.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Simulation and Structural Analysis of a Flexible Coupling Bionic Desorption Mechanism Based on the Engineering Discrete Element Method.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Morphological study of the integument and corporal skeletal muscles of two psammophilous members of Scincidae (Scincus scincus and Eumeces schneideri).Journal of morphology · 2021Article
- Article
- Characterization of the microscopic tribological properties of sandfish (Beilstein journal of nanotechnology · 2018Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The lizardScincus scincus, also known as sandfish, can move through aeolian desert sand in a swimming-like manner. A prerequisite for this ability is a special integument, i.e. scales with a very low friction for sand and a high abrasion resistance. Glycans in the scales are causally related to the low friction. Here, we analysed the glycans and found that neutral glycans with five to nine mannose residues are important. If these glycans were covalently bound to acrylic polymers like poly(methyl methacrylate) or acrylic car coatings at a density of approximately one molecule per 4 nm², friction for and adhesion of sand particles could be reduced to levels close to those observed with sandfish scales. This was also found true, if the glycans were isolated from sources other than sandfish scales like plants such as almonds or mistletoe. We speculate that these neutral glycans act as low density spacers separating sand particles from the dense scales thereby reducing van der Waals forces.
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