Figure 6: Settlement of spores of Ulva on microengineered Sharklet AF patterns moulded in PDMSe.

The graph shows the results of an experiment in which spores of Ulva were allowed to settle (adhere) to a variety of 'Sharklet-type' patterns, with increasing numbers of distinct topographic features. The height of the bars indicates the resulting density of spores settled on the different patterns, which are illustrated below each bar (from left to right, n=0 (smooth), 1–5, where n=the number of distinct topographic features). In all cases, the height and spacing of the features remained constant (2.8 μm high×2 μm wide×2 μm space). Figure drawn from data in ref. 42; images of patterns courtesy of Professor A.B. Brennan.