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  • Primer
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Nature-inspired micropatterns

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume 3, Article number: 68 (2023) Cite this article

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Abstract

Micropatterned materials have developed in nature over 3.8 billion years, with remarkable performance. Nature inspiration is the process of understanding biological mechanisms and strategies and using this knowledge to solve technical problems or enhance engineering designs. The term nature inspiration includes biomimetics, biomimicry and bioinspiration. Micropatterns are patterned materials or structures that have feature sizes in the nanometre-to-micrometre range. Owing to size effects, micropatterns can impart novel functions to a material without altering the bulk composition and properties. By imitating natural strategies, engineering challenges can be solved. Examples include mimicking ecological and in vivo microenvironments or producing superhydrophobic surfaces, adhesives and structural colours. Nature inspiration is an interdisciplinary field, involving various materials and fabrication techniques. This Primer provides a comprehensive overview of nature-inspired micropatterns, which offer unique design strategies and functional properties. In this Primer, key principles, fabrication methods and applications of nature-inspired micropatterns are discussed. Additionally, future prospects and challenges are highlighted for this rapidly evolving field.

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Fig. 1: Pattern transfer operation of photolithography and etching.
Fig. 2: Schematic of soft lithography procedures.
Fig. 3: Schematic of 2D and 3D printing procedures.
Fig. 4: Characterization of micropattern structure.
Fig. 5: Characterization of wettability and adhesives of micropatterned surfaces.
Fig. 6: Characterization of the structural colour and cell culturing function of micropattern.
Fig. 7: Application of nature-inspired micropatterns.

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Acknowledgements

X.Z. specially acknowledges the love and support from grandparents W. Zhang and Y. Qiu and MIT Professor M. Dresselhaus.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yunhua Wang, Guoxia Zheng.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Yunhua Wang & Xingcai Zhang

  2. Medical College, Dalian University, Dalian, China

    Yunhua Wang

  3. Key Laboratory of Biophysics in Universities of Liaoning Province, Dalian, China

    Yunhua Wang & Guoxia Zheng

  4. Environmental and Chemical Engineering Institute, Dalian University, Dalian, China

    Guoxia Zheng

  5. West China School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Nan Jiang & Guoliang Ying

  6. JinFeng Laboratory, Chongqing, China

    Nan Jiang

  7. Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Guoliang Ying & Yu Shrike Zhang

  8. Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

    Yiwei Li & Xiaolu Cai

  9. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China

    Jiashen Meng & Liqiang Mai

  10. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Jiashen Meng & Ming Guo

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  1. Yunhua Wang
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  11. Xingcai Zhang
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Contributions

Introduction (Y.W., G.Z., M.G., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); Experimentation (Y.W., G.Z., N.J., G.Y., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); Results (Y.W., G.Z., J.M., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); Applications (Y.W., G.Z., L.M., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); Reproducibility and data deposition (Y.W., G.Z., X.C., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); Limitations and optimizations (Y.W., G.Z., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); Outlook (Y.W., G.Z., Y.L., X.C., M.G., Y.S.Z. and X.Z.); and overview of the Primer (all authors).

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guoxia Zheng or Xingcai Zhang.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Reviews Methods Primers thanks Mehmet Sarikaya and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Glossary

Biomimetic

Biomimetics is the interdisciplinary cooperation of biology and technology to solve practical problems through functional analysis of biological systems, abstraction into models and application to a solution.

Bioinspiration

A creative approach based on the observation of biological systems, extraction of functional principles and use of those principles in engineered systems. Although a biomimetic design must imitate its natural counterpart, bioinspiration is influenced or informed by a biological system.

Material islands

Small, isolated regions or patches of a material that are uniquely patterned on the substrate surface.

Micro-electromechanical systems

(MEMS). Integrated mechanical elements, sensors, actuators and electronics that are fabricated using microfabrication technologies derived from the semiconductor industry.

Surface wettability

The character of a surface that allows liquids to adhere. Surface wettability can be described by contact angles (CAs), the tangent angle between the solid surface and liquid meniscus. When CA > 90°, the liquid tends to form a droplet on the surface, and the surface is hydrophobic. Conversely, when CA < 90°, the liquids tend to spread on the surface and the surface is hydrophilic.

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Wang, Y., Zheng, G., Jiang, N. et al. Nature-inspired micropatterns. Nat Rev Methods Primers 3, 68 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00251-w

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