E-mail: agnes. Robert Steichen, L, Hautcharage, Luxembourg. The Treignac water is a natural mineral water containing mainly orthosilicic acid. On inert substrates, it forms a silica film with fractal structures which cannot be reproduced in laboratory-reconstituted water. These structures form by condensation of orthosilicic acid monomers, following the Witten—Sander model of diffusion-limited aggregation. On biological surfaces, such as tomato leaves, the Treignac water forms a silica film with a different morphology and devoid of fractal structures.
The filmogenic properties of this natural mineral water are here discussed in the context of crop protection, as the silica film can provide a barrier and a platform for the immobilization of elicitors of plant defense responses. Drinking water contains readily bioavailable sources of silicon for humans.
Historically known by the pilgrims on the route to St James of Compostella because of its skin soothing properties, this water, both natural and concentrated, 9 forms a silica film containing previously-reported fractal structures fractal dendrites on inert metallic substrates.
Likewise, the composition of these forms and the eventual interferences of the physico-chemical environment on their formation have not yet been investigated. By combining transmission TEM , simulations and environmental scanning electron microscopy SEM coupled to energy dispersive spectroscopy EDS , we here show that the dendrites and fractal structures derive from the polymerisation of orthosilicic acid by condensation of monomers, according to the Witten—Sander model of diffusion-limited aggregation DLA.
Additionally, a film devoid of any fractal structure forms when the water is deposited on biological surfaces, such as the leaf of tomato plants. Besides cosmetics, the Treignac water's filmogenic properties have interesting applications in other fields, namely as a coating agent for crop protection. We discuss the potential uses of the film to immobilize elicitors of plant defense responses. Tomato plantlets var.
