Publications

Patents

- - FATTY ACIDS-CONTAINING AQUEOUS FORMULATION, SUPERHYDROPHOBIC COATINGS FORMED THEREBY AND USES THEREOF. US Provisional Patent Application No. 64/154,942, filed on 15 September 2026.
- - SUPERHYDROPHOBIC SURFACES AND SOLVENT-FREE METHODS OF PREPARING SAME. European Patent Application No. 26195659.3, filed on 30 July 2026.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

- - Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Tauber F, Schneider C, Prudnikov E, Calora A, Milita S, Fermani S, Ibanez Revert M, Filippetti I, Ratti C, Kellermeier M, Rueckel M, and Pokroy B. Advancing SafeWax, A Bio-Inspired Superhydrophobic Coating, Toward Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Crop Protection. Adv Funct Mater, 2026. DOI:10.1002/adfm.77980
- - Polishchuk I, Prudnikov E, Abu Hamad H, Ben-Arie N, Sklar J, Kellermeier M, Schneider C, Rueckel M, Tauber F, Ibanez Revert M, Brannetti A, Filippetti I, Fermani S, Chantelot E, Dreze V, Segal E, Baraldi E, Falini G, Ratti C, and Pokroy B. SafeWax: A Bio-Inspired Multifunctional Coating for Sustainable Crop Protection. Small , 2025; 21(46):e05360.

Press Releases

- - Advanced Science News: Pesticide-free, climate-smart agriculture with “SafeWax”. 16 February 2026.
  - Food & Wine: Scientists Created a Plant-Based Wax That Could Cut Pesticide Use by 50%. 13 February 2026.
  - Jerusalem post: Israeli researchers develop SafeWax coating that could cut pesticide use by 50%. 18 January 2026.
  - Israel Hayom: The end of pesticides? Technion researchers find solution for plant diseases. 5 January 2026.
  - Ibanez M, Filippetti I, Ratti C, Brannetti A. SafeWax e la Superidrofobicità, un Fenomeno Naturale al Servizio Della Protezione Della Vite. Professional publication, Agronotizie, 23 December 2024.

Conference Contributions

- - Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Franziska T, Schneider C, Rueckel M, Kellermeier M, Millita S, Fermani S, Pokroy B. SafeWax: Bio-Inspired Fatty Acid-Based for Sustainable and Clinate-Resilient Agriculture. Conference contribution – poster presentation, Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems, New Hampshire, USA,
    
    June 28 – July 3 2026.
  - Ibanez Revert M. Exploiting superhydrophobicity to protect the grapevine against biotic and abiotic stresses. Conference contribution – oral presentation, 11th National Conference on Viticulture (CONAVI 2026), Bolzano, Italy, 9-11 June 2026.
  - Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Franziska T, Schneider C, Rueckel M, Kellermeier M, Pokroy B. Development and Performance of Sustainable, Bioinspired Fatty Acid Based Coatings for Multi-Functional Crop Protection. Conference contribution – oral presentation, 18th International Symposium on Biomineralization and the GIF Young Scientists Meetings (BIOMIN XVIII), Dresden, Germany, 16-20 March 2026.
  - Fabiana C, Alessia C, Ben-Arie N, Falini G, Ratti C, Polishchuk I, Pokroy B, Fermani S, Millita S. Synchrotron Based Structural Characterization of Bionspired Superhydrophobic Coationgs for Sustainable Agricultural Applications. Conference contribution – poster presentation, 24th Emilia-Romagna Chemistry Day 2025 (XXIV GdC-ER), Italy, 18 December 2025.
  - Ben-Arie N, Pokroy B, Polishchuk I. Development of Bioinspired and Sustainable Fatty Acid-Based Coatings for Multifunctional Protection of Agricultural Crops. Conference contribution – poster presentation, IVS-IPSTA 2025 – 42 Annual Meeting, Kfar HaMaccabiah, Ramat Gan, Israel, 21 December 2025.
  - Brannetti A, Ibanez R, Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Pokroy B, Fermani S, Filippetti I, Ratti C, Baraldi E. Sustainable Control of Plasmopara viticola in Grapevines via SafeWax: A Bioinspired Passive Coating Strategy. Conference contribution – oral presentation, XXX Congress of the Italian Phytopathological Society (XXX SIPaV 2025), Catania, Italy, 15-17 September 2025.
  - Abu Hamad H, Prudnikov E, Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Segal E, Pokroy B. Bioinspired Surfaces with Anti-Microbial Properties for Sustainable Crop Protection. Conference contribution – poster presentation, ACS Fall 2025, Washington D.C., USA, 17-21 August 2024.
  - Abu Hamad H, Prudnikov E, Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Pokroy B, Segal E. Antifungal Properties of Aatty-Acid-Based Superhydrophobic Coatings: from Surface Protection to Sustainable Agriculture. Conference contribution – poster presentation, The Annual Conference of Israel Society for Microbiology 2025, ISM 2025, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 22-23 July 2025.
  - Ben Arie N, Polishchuk I, Pokroy B. Development of Bioinspired Fatty Acid-Based Coatings for Advancing Sustainable Agricultural Practices. Conference contribution – poster presentation, The 20th Israel Materials Engineering Conference (IMEC20), Jerusalem, Israel, 25–26 February 2025.

Training & Academic Outputs

- - Prudnikov E, Supervisor: Prof. Boaz Pokroy. Superhydrophobic Coatings Based on Self-Assembled Crystalline Fatty Acids with Antimicrobial Properties: from Formation and Characterization to Function and Plant Protection. PhD Thesis, Technion Library, 2025.

Relevant Publications

- - Ben-Arie N, Polishchuk I, Tauber F, Schneider C, Prudnikov E, Calora A, Milita S, Fermani S, Mireia A, Ibanez R, Filippetti I, Ratti C, Kellermeier M, Rueckel M, and Pokroy B. Advancing SafeWax, A Bio-Inspired Superhydrophobic Coating, Toward Sustainable and Climate-Resilient Crop Protection. Advanced Functional Materials, 2026; e77980
  - Prudnikov E, Abu Hamad H, Polishchuk I, Kastman A, Segal E* and Pokroy B*. Superhydrophobic Fatty Acid-Based Spray Coatings with Dual-Mode Antifungal Activity. ACS Appl Bio Mater, 2025; 8(7):5970.
  - Prudnikov E, Polishchuk I, Sand A, Abu Hamad H, Massad-Ivanir N, Segal E* and Pokroy B*. Self-Assembled Fatty Acid Crystalline Coatings Display Superhydrophobic Antimicrobial Properties.  Mater Today Bio, 2023; 18:100516.
  - Ostrov I, Polishchuk I, Shemesh M and Pokroy B*. Superhydrophobic Wax Coatings to Improve Dairy Food Quality.  Appl Bio Mater , 2019;  2(11):4932.
  - Gorb E, Böhm S, Jacky N, Maier L P, Dening K, Pechook S, Pokroy B and Gorb S. Insect Attachment on Bioinspired Wax Crystalline Surfaces Formed by Alkanes of Varying Chain Lengths.  Beilstein J Nanotech , 2014; 14(5):1031.
  - Pechook S, Kornblum N, Pokroy B*. Bio-Inspired Superoleophobic Fluorinated Wax Crystalline Surfaces.  Adv Funct Mater, 2013; 23(36):4572.
  - Pechook S, Pokroy B*. Self-Assembling, Bioinspired Wax Crystalline Surfaces with Time-Dependent Wettability.  Adv Funct Mater , 2012; 22(4):745.