Contents: (Adv. Mater. Interfaces 13/2017)

Semiaquatic plants have developed the ability to retain a layer of air when submerged in water, a supreme example is the complex surface of the floating fern Salvinia molesta.For the first time, the Salvinia effect is reported in an all carbon based architecture, vertically aligned carbon nanotubes.This effect opens promising pathways for the development of artificial biomimetic sensors.