Micro- and nanoscale effects in biological and bioinspired materials and surfaces

• Thies H. Büscher,
• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira,
• Manuela Rebora and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 214–217, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.14

• Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, University of Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, 06121 Perugia, Italy 10.3762/bjnano.17.14 Keywords: adhesion; bioengineering; functional morphology; material properties; medical coatings; microstructures; nanostructures; optics; structure–function relationships; Micro- and

• varying environmental parameters. For terrestrial animals, adhesive systems usually provide temporary adhesion and do not make use of cements. A study on the evolution of subdigital microstructures in Cyrtodactylus geckos by Ginal et al. [16] addressed how adhesive microstructures (setae) have

Functional surface engineering for cultural heritage protection: the role of superhydrophobic and superoleophobic coatings – a comprehensive review

• Giuseppe Cesare Lama,
• Marino Lavorgna,
• Letizia Verdolotti,
• Federica Recupido,
• Giovanna Giuliana Buonocore and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 63–96, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.6

Subdigital integumentary microstructure in Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkota): do those lineages with incipiently expressed toepads exclusively exhibit adhesive setae?

• Philipp Ginal,
• Yannick Ecker,
• Timothy Higham,
• L. Lee Grismer,
• Benjamin Wipfler,
• Dennis Rödder,
• Anthony Russell and
• Jendrian Riedel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 38–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.4

• among muscles, bones, vascular tissue, and microscopic epidermal microstructures. The microstructures of geckos are classifiable as spinules, spines, prongs and setae, but only setae, which possess spatulate tips, promote adhesive competency sufficient to support body mass employing van der Waals forces

• . Several studies indicate that the form of toepad microstructures might be specific to the exploitation of the attributes of the substrata employed during habitat use. The species-rich genus Cyrtodactylus exhibits extensive variation in the shape of the subdigital scales associated with different habitats

• , making it a promising candidate for studying toepad evolution. We investigated the subdigital microstructures of 27 Cyrtodactylus species occupying a wide range of habitats, and exhibiting a spectrum of subdigital morphology, from the presence of the ancestral condition of small, rounded scales to the

Electromagnetic study of a split-ring resonator metamaterial with cold-electron bolometers

• Ekaterina A. Matrozova,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Leonid S. Revin and
• Andrey L. Pankratov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2199–2206, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.152

• Ekaterina A. Matrozova Alexander V. Chiginev Leonid S. Revin Andrey L. Pankratov Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev, MininStreet, 24, Nizhny Novgorod, 603155, Russia Institute for Physics of Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademicheskaya Street, 7

Laser processing in liquids: insights into nanocolloid generation and thin film integration for energy, photonic, and sensing applications

• Akshana Parameswaran Sreekala,
• Pooja Raveendran Nair,
• Jithin Kundalam Kadavath,
• Bindu Krishnan,
• David Avellaneda Avellaneda,
• M. R. Anantharaman and
• Sadasivan Shaji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1428–1498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.104

• (e.g., nanoparticles, nanocubes, nanorods, and nanocomposites) [5]. The developments in LAL have demonstrated its ability to synthesize functionalized nanostructures with special morphologies, microstructures, and phases, which hold promise for applications in optics, detection, and biological fields

Synthesis and antibacterial properties of nanosilver-modified cellulose triacetate membranes for seawater desalination

• Lei Wang,
• Shizhe Li,
• Kexin Xu,
• Wenjun Li,
• Ying Li and
• Gang Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1380–1391, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.100

• for Ag nanoparticles. Various characterizations confirm the successful introduction of Ag nanoparticles onto the surface of the PDA-modified CTA (PCTA) membrane and the preservation of CTA microstructures. Antibacterial testing demonstrates that the Ag@PCTA membrane exhibited excellent antibacterial

Synthesis and magnetic transitions of rare-earth-free Fe–Mn–Ni–Si-based compositionally complex alloys at bulk and nanoscale

• Shabbir Tahir,
• Tatiana Smoliarova,
• Carlos Doñate-Buendía,
• Michael Farle,
• Natalia Shkodich and
• Bilal Gökce

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 823–836, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.62

• the Al-based CCA is more gradual, possibly because of different multiple phases and microstructures. However, the low-temperature magnetization of the Al-based CCA (≈1 A·m2·kg−1) is much lower than that of the Ge-based CCA (≈5 A·m2·kg−1), indicating that antiferromagnetic correlations may become

Supramolecular hydration structure of graphene-based hydrogels: density functional theory, green chemistry and interface application

• Hon Nhien Le,
• Duy Khanh Nguyen,
• Minh Triet Dang,
• Huyen Trinh Nguyen,
• Thi Bang Tam Dao,
• Trung Do Nguyen,
• Chi Nhan Ha Thuc and
• Van Hieu Le

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 806–822, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.61

• (Figure 3h and 3i). Although GO-SG-ZH nanosheets agglomerated into microstructures (Figure 3h), the self-assembly of graphene-based nanosheets was different from the stacked morphology of the GO-SG-ZH powder. At a higher magnification of 20,000×, SEM image in Figure 3i revealed the porous structure with

Nanostructured materials characterized by scanning photoelectron spectromicroscopy

• Matteo Amati,
• Alexey S. Shkvarin,
• Alexander I. Merentsov,
• Alexander N. Titov,
• María Taeño,
• David Maestre,
• Sarah R. McKibbin,
• Zygmunt Milosz,
• Ana Cremades,
• Rainer Timm and
• Luca Gregoratti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 700–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.54

• from 800 to 1500 °C under a controlled Ar atmosphere. In that study, XPS analysis was performed in combination with complementary microscopy and spectroscopy techniques. The analyzed NiO microstructures exhibit dimensions in the micrometric range, with preferential {100} surface texturing, where self

Biomimetics and bioinspired surfaces: from nature to theory and applications

• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira,
• Thies H. Büscher,
• Manuela Rebora,
• Poramate Manoonpong,
• Zhendong Dai and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 418–421, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.32

• ; microstructures; nanostructures; wettability; The surfaces of living organisms are continuously interacting with their surroundings. As a result, they encounter a variety of challenges arising from both external and internal stimuli. Consequently, these surfaces must be multifunctional and adapt to numerous

• microstructures that reduce drag; for instance, bees and wasps have structures on the wings that facilitate flying [5]. Zhu et al. [9] applied this concept in using microtextures to rotating blades of aircraft engines. Their results show that the microtextures may improve energy efficiency by 3.7% of a single

Tailoring of physical properties of RF-sputtered ZnTe films: role of substrate temperature

• Kafi Devi,
• Usha Rani,
• Arun Kumar,
• Divya Gupta and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 333–348, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.25

• steps, namely, condensation, nucleation, and crystallization on the substrate surface. The mobility of atoms on the substrate surface is very much affected by the substrate temperature. At low substrate temperatures, because of the low diffusion rate and low mobility of atoms, columnar microstructures

Ultrablack color in velvet ant cuticle

• Vinicius Marques Lopez,
• Wencke Krings,
• Juliana Reis Machado,
• Stanislav Gorb and
• Rhainer Guillermo-Ferreira

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1554–1565, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.122

• specialized cuticle, characterized by microstructures that effectively minimize reflectance and enhance light absorption. Optical spectrometry confirmed the ultrablack nature of the cuticle, with the measured reflectance approaching minimal levels across a broad spectrum of wavelengths. Therefore, our study

• spectacle among animals. These colors with high absorption are formed in nature by a sophisticated arrangement of microstructures (i.e., structures visible under microscope) alongside pigment depositions in underlying tissues [9][10]. For instance, in male peacock spiders (Figure 1A), ultrablack

• absorption due to complex arrangements of microstructures at the cuticle surface above absorptive lamellae. The surface microstructure of the ultrablack cuticle (setae and microsculpturing) bear some structural resemblance to the ultrablack surfaces in other animals [10][13]. Moreover, there are lamellae

Investigation of Hf/Ti bilayers for the development of transition-edge sensor microcalorimeters

• Victoria Y. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Anton A. Yablokov and
• Andrey L. Pankratov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1353–1361, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.108

• Victoria Y. Safonova Anna V. Gordeeva Anton V. Blagodatkin Dmitry A. Pimanov Anton A. Yablokov Andrey L. Pankratov Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev, Minin Street, 24, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, 603155, Russia Institute for Physics of Microstructures of the Russian

Hymenoptera and biomimetic surfaces: insights and innovations

• Vinicius Marques Lopez,
• Carlo Polidori and
• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1333–1352, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.107

• across species, with those species employing the sting for offensive or defensive purposes potentially possessing cuticular microstructures proficient at inflicting significant harm [173]. Stridulatory organ: Stridulation in Hymenoptera, the process by which these insects produce sound by rubbing certain

Functional morphology of cleaning devices in the damselfly Ischnura elegans (Odonata, Coenagrionidae)

• Silvana Piersanti,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Wencke Krings,
• Stanislav Gorb and
• Manuela Rebora

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1260–1272, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.102

• Abstract Among the different micro- and nanostructures located on cuticular surfaces, grooming devices represent fundamental tools for insect survival. The present study describes the grooming microstructures of the damselfly Ischnura elegans (Odonata, Coenagrionidae) at the adult stage. These structures

• used to clean the head and, especially, the eyes and the antennae. The microstructures were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the presence and distribution of resilin, an elastomeric protein that enhances cuticle deformability and flexibility (review in [36]), were analyzed using

Local work function on graphene nanoribbons

• Daniel Rothhardt,
• Amina Kimouche,
• Tillmann Klamroth and
• Regina Hoffmann-Vogel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1125–1131, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.91

• an average over several measurements (over 257 LCPD line scans), the influence of the tip and sample microstructures on the resulting overall values is minimized. Additionally, is measured with respect to the reference LCPD recorded on the Au(111) surface to account for variations of the tip contact

Direct electron beam writing of silver using a β-diketonate precursor: first insights

• Katja Höflich,
• Krzysztof Maćkosz,
• Chinmai S. Jureddy,
• Aleksei Tsarapkin and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1117–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.90

• obtained [34]. For planar deposits, similar microstructures were obtained during platinum deposition using Pt(η5-CpMe)Me3 [35] and ruthenium deposition using (EtCp)2Ru [36], both in combination with post-deposition purification employing electron beam irradiation in a water atmosphere. For the case of

Beyond biomimicry – next generation applications of bioinspired adhesives from microfluidics to composites

• Dan Sameoto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 965–976, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.79

• -tolerant microstructures as gecko adhesives, but to define continuous gaskets for containing fluids. Figure 4 is a compilation of two figures from [35] (“Gecko gaskets for self-sealing and high-strength reversible bonding of microfluidics“) by A. Wasay and D. Sameoto, distributed under the terms of the

The effect of age on the attachment ability of stick insects (Phasmatodea)

• Marie Grote,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 867–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.72

• , adhesive microstructures covering those pads support attachment. Stick insects do not molt again after reaching the imaginal stage; hence, the cuticle of their pads is subject to continuous ageing. This study aims to quantify how attachment ability changes with age in the stick insect Sungaya aeta

• to fly, they adapted strongly to their local environment [11][19][22][23]. Phasmids have evolved considerably depending on plants since pre-angiosperm times [24]. As plants display a huge range of different surface characteristics [25][26][27][28], the diversity of microstructures on phasmatodean

• Labonte and Federle [31] have shown that the arolium and euplantulae each perform different tasks. The arolium is used while climbing upside down, whereas the euplantulae generate friction and are used in upright walking. Phasmid euplantulae are covered with different surface microstructures that are

Investigation on drag reduction on rotating blade surfaces with microtextures

• Qinsong Zhu,
• Chen Zhang,
• Fuhang Yu and
• Yan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 833–853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.70

• better than that of the other two structures. Tian et al. [10] pointed out that, because of the complexity of microstructures on the shark skin surface, it is difficult to use a uniform method to characterize the skin surface. Triangular grooves or rectangular grooves can be used to simplify the

• microstructures on the shark skin surface to study the effects on hydrodynamics and aerodynamics. Within these extremely small structures, a low-speed, stable fluid flow exists, which can mitigate turbulences and enhance the stability of fluid motion within the boundary layer, resulting in a reduction of

• tip leakage, Parkash et al. [19] added grooves at the blade tips and verified their effectiveness through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. After the incorporation of grooves, the turbine efficiency improved by 0.1% to 0.2%. It is evident that arranging microstructures on blade surfaces

Intermixing of MoS₂ and WS₂ photocatalysts toward methylene blue photodegradation

• Maryam Al Qaydi,
• Nitul S. Rajput,
• Michael Lejeune,
• Abdellatif Bouchalkha,
• Mimoun El Marssi,
• Steevy Cordette,
• Chaouki Kasmi and
• Mustapha Jouiad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 817–829, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.68

• yield, their physical properties, and their evolving microstructures. Results and Discussion Structural analysis Raman spectroscopy analysis of the exfoliated samples revealed prominent vibrational modes of hexagonal 2H-MoS2, 2H-WS2, and mixture of both phases, represented by E12g at 382 cm−1 and A1g at

• . The observed flakes have typical shapes such as triangular, hexagonal, pentagonal, and other irregular polygonal shapes. The size of the flakes is within the range of 1 µm. The morphology and the shape of the flakes have common microstructures of MoS2/WS2 materials grown using chemical vapor

Comparative analysis of the ultrastructure and adhesive secretion pathways of different smooth attachment pads of the stick insect Medauroidea extradentata (Phasmatodea)

• Julian Thomas,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 612–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.52

• relatively large adhesive organs that bear no further surface microstructures [47][55][56] and because the droplet morphology of its tarsal secretion has been recently analysed [28][38][47][55][56]. Combining different imaging techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), confocal laser scanning

Measurements of dichroic bow-tie antenna arrays with integrated cold-electron bolometers using YBCO oscillators

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Viktor O. Zbrozhek,
• Andrey V. Samartsev,
• Anastasia N. Orlova,
• Dmitry V. Masterov,
• Alexey E. Parafin,
• Victoria Yu. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Leonid S. Kuzmin,
• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Silvia Masi and
• Paolo de Bernardis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 26–36, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.3

• Bernardis Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a. R.E. Alekseev, Minin Street, 24, Nizhny Novgorod, 603155, Russia Institute for Physics of Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademicheskaya Street 7, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950, Russia Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience

• Microstructures of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPM RAS), with subsequent measurements of the samples in the sorption 3He refrigerator of our laboratory. The 210/240 GHz receiving system is fabricated using a two-layer technology (two lithography steps). During the first photolithography step, a layer of

Hierarchically patterned polyurethane microgrooves featuring nanopillars or nanoholes for neurite elongation and alignment

• Lester Uy Vinzons,
• Guo-Chung Dong and
• Shu-Ping Lin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1157–1168, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.96

• , the question arises: Can discrete structures be combined with continuous structures for possible synergistic effects? Indeed, several studies have fabricated hierarchical discrete nanostructures on continuous microstructures in order to better mimic the micro- and the nanostructure of the native nerve

• demonstrates a promising method for the creation of hierarchical nano-/microstructures on various polymers for nerve implant applications. Results and Discussion Fabrication and characterization of PU nanopillar and nanohole substrates We first fabricated nanopillar and nanohole arrays on medical-grade

• facilitates the creation of nano-/microstructures on substrates of different solvent-castable polymers without the use of expensive equipment. Moreover, the hierarchically patterned microgrooves featuring nanopillars and nanoholes provide an additional strategy for the enhancement of next-generation nerve

Exploring internal structures and properties of terpolymer fibers via real-space characterizations

• Michael R. Roenbeck and
• Kenneth E. Strawhecker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1004–1017, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.83

• investigated the processing and properties of high-performance terpolymer fibers, much remains to be understood about the internal nano- and microstructures of these fibers, and how these morphologies relate to fiber properties. Here we use a focused ion beam notch technique and multifrequency atomic force

• development of future classes of high-performance fibers. Results AFM characterizations of Technora® AFM maps enable direct characterization of both fiber nano- and microstructures in real space. Large-scale maps span across the fiber diameter to highlight prominent microstructural features. For Technora

• contextualize several aspects related to our findings. First, we describe how this real-space characterization provides new information about the Technora® fiber nanostructure. We then focus on fiber microstructures, highlighting how this technique expands upon conclusions from previous studies. Lastly, we