A thin extra cellular membrane, called the cuticle, covers all primary surfaces of plants except roots. In many species, the cuticle itself is covered by small structures composed of various lipids, usually called waxes. Their size the ranges from 200 nanometres to several micrometers. For many wax structures a crystalline nature has been proven. These wax crystals in most cases are formed by self-assembly upon the surface after individual molecules moved through the cell wall and the cuticle. AFM investigations allow demonstra­ting the formation processes of wax crystals on the molecular level and that the crystallisation process is highly dynamic. The epicuticular wax layer represents a multifunctional interface between the plant and its environment. Wax crystals directly influence many interactions such as the reduction of wettability or the adhesion of particles or insects. Therefore it is of interest to manufacture biomimetic technical surfaces with similar properties. By choosing suitable conditions, self-assembly of waxes can be mimicked in vitro and may be controlled by choosing substrates of variable surface properties such as polarity or crystal order. In addition, other techniques such as electrochemical approaches allow structuring large metal surfaces according to natural models again by using self-assembly. Examples for both systems will be presented and possible applications discussed.

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1. Lotus-Effect®: Biomimetic super-hydrophobic surfaces and their application