Bioinspired materials for water-harvesting: focusing on microstructure designs and the improvement of sustainability

Abstract

In recent years, environmental pollution issues have gradually increased the cost of obtaining clean water for humans. Inspired by natural creatures, collecting water from the atmosphere has become a hot research topic. Herein, a theoretical model regarding the transportation behavior of water droplets and the water-harvesting mechanism of three classic organisms are summarized. Then, the microstructure design methods of the water-collecting surface are discussed, such as the one-dimensional structure inspired by spider silk and cactus, the two-dimensional structure inspired by Namib desert beetles, and the composite structure inspired by multiple creatures. In addition to improving the collection efficiency through microstructure design, the sustainability of the water-harvesting materials is also crucial, which is rarely reported. It is meaningful to provide references on how to improve the mechanical stability, chemical stability, and antibacterial properties. Finally, conclusions are drawn and some prospects for the future development of bionic water-collecting materials are proposed.