Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• flapping insects with high aspect-ratio wings. The authors then relate the aerodynamic performance of the three species studied to the behavioural ecology requirements of their niches to generate exciting avenues of bioinspiration for flapping micro-air-vehicles. Bargel et al. [9] discuss in their review

• inspiration as we develop our biomimetic abstractions into actual products. This theme is picked up again by Konrad et al [16] who describe their nonlinear journey through bioinspiration in “Straight roads into nowhere – obvious and not-so-obvious biological models for ferrophobic surfaces”. The challenge to

• environments, were selected as likely sources of bioinspiration. It quickly became obvious that the intricate physics of both archetypes was not appropriate for the industrial conditions of the steel oven. The project would have stopped there had it not been for the combined knowledge of other biological

Straight roads into nowhere – obvious and not-so-obvious biological models for ferrophobic surfaces

• Wilfried Konrad,
• Christoph Neinhuis and
• Anita Roth-Nebelsick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1345–1360, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.111

• obvious biological models are no guarantee for success, and that it is difficult to arrive at a formalised biomimetic working scheme. Rather, a broad understanding of biological function and its complexity is beneficial. Keywords: air-retaining interfaces; bioinspiration; biomimetics; biomimicry; blast

Physical constraints lead to parallel evolution of micro- and nanostructures of animal adhesive pads: a review

• Thies H. Büscher and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 725–743, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.57

• to CC BY 4.0. Sources of bioinspiration for attachment systems from the animal tree of life. Shown are the example groups in which attachment systems occur from Figure 1. The functional aspects i) hairy attachment pads (green), ii) smooth attachment pads (purple) and claws (orange), which can inspire

Friction reduction through biologically inspired scale-like laser surface textures

• Johannes Schneider,
• Vergil Djamiykov and
• Christian Greiner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2561–2572, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.238

• the potential to yield significant reduction in friction forces and are expected to spark future research in the field of biologically inspired surface morphologies applied to tribological contacts. Keywords: bioinspiration; friction; laser surface texturing; scales; tribology; Introduction Friction

Effect of microtrichia on the interlocking mechanism in the Asian ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)

• Jiyu Sun,
• Chao Liu,
• Bharat Bhushan,
• Wei Wu and
• Jin Tong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 812–823, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.75

• 43210-1142, USA 10.3762/bjnano.9.75 Abstract The hindwings of beetles are folded under the elytra when they are at rest but are extended during flight, which can provide bioinspiration for the design of deployable micro air vehicles (MAVs). Beetle hindwings must be able to be both securely locked under

The hydraulic mechanism in the hind wing veins of Cybister japonicus Sharp (order: Coleoptera)

• Jiyu Sun,
• Wei Wu,
• Mingze Ling,
• Bharat Bhushan and
• Jin Tong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 904–913, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.82

• . The blood flow and pressure changes are discussed. The driving mechanism for hydraulic control of the folding and unfolding actions of beetle hind wings is put forward. This can assist the design of new deployable micro air vehicles and bioinspired deployable systems. Keywords: bioinspiration; diving

Nanostructured superhydrophobic films synthesized by electrodeposition of fluorinated polyindoles

• Gabriela Ramos Chagas,
• Thierry Darmanin and
• Frédéric Guittard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2078–2087, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.212

• oleophobic properties are obtained due to the presence of spherical nanoparticles and low surface energy compounds. Keywords: bioinspiration; conducting polymers; electrochemistry; nanostructures; polyindoles; superhydrophobic; Introduction The number of studies about materials with superhydrophobic

• , in both animals and plants, and allow them surviving against predators or hostile environments such as extremely humid or dry regions, for example [7][8][9][10][11][12]. Bioinspiration has shown the importance of developing structured surfaces in the presence of low surface energy materials that

Biopolymer colloids for controlling and templating inorganic synthesis

• Laura C. Preiss,
• Katharina Landfester and
• Rafael Muñoz-Espí

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2129–2138, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.222

• agents in inorganic synthesis have in one or other way their origin or inspiration in natural strategies. We do not wish, however, to insist once more on the well-known ditty on the use of nature as “bioinspiration” for science. Our aim, probably more modest, is to classify and review here some of the