Physicochemical basis for water-actuated movement and stress generation in nonliving plant tissues
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In: Physical review letters, Vol. 111.2013, No. 23, 238001, 05.12.2013.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Physicochemical basis for water-actuated movement and stress generation in nonliving plant tissues
AU - Bertinetti, Luca
AU - Fischer, Franz-Dieter
AU - Fratzl, Peter
PY - 2013/12/5
Y1 - 2013/12/5
N2 - Generating stresses and strains through water uptake from atmospheric humidity is a common process in nature, e.g., in seed dispersal. Actuation depends on a balance between chemical interactions and the elastic energy required to accomplish the volume change. In order to study the poorly understood chemical interactions, we combine mechanosorption experiments with theoretical calculations of the swelling behavior to estimate the mechanical energy and extract the contribution of the chemical energy per absorbed water molecule. The latter is highest in the completely dry state and stays almost constant at about 1.2 kT for higher hydrations. This suggests that water bound to the macromolecular components of the wood tissues acquires one additional hydrogen bond per eight water molecules, thus providing energy for actuation.
AB - Generating stresses and strains through water uptake from atmospheric humidity is a common process in nature, e.g., in seed dispersal. Actuation depends on a balance between chemical interactions and the elastic energy required to accomplish the volume change. In order to study the poorly understood chemical interactions, we combine mechanosorption experiments with theoretical calculations of the swelling behavior to estimate the mechanical energy and extract the contribution of the chemical energy per absorbed water molecule. The latter is highest in the completely dry state and stays almost constant at about 1.2 kT for higher hydrations. This suggests that water bound to the macromolecular components of the wood tissues acquires one additional hydrogen bond per eight water molecules, thus providing energy for actuation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84889770399&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.238001
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.238001
M3 - Article
C2 - 24476305
AN - SCOPUS:84889770399
VL - 111.2013
JO - Physical review letters
JF - Physical review letters
SN - 0031-9007
IS - 23
M1 - 238001
ER -