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Biomimetics
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025
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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025

A special issue of Biomimetics (ISSN 2313-7673). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 9302

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Yongmei Zheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Smart Interfacial Science and Technology of Ministry of Education, School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: bioinspired wettability; micro- and nanostructures; bioinspired surfaces
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce a new Special Issue, titled “Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025”, which will collect review papers invited by Editorial Board Members.

The aim of this collection is to provide a venue for networking and communication between Biomimetics and scholars in the field of biomimetic surfaces and interfaces. All papers will be published in open access following peer review.

Prof. Dr. Yongmei Zheng
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioinspired surface
  • bioinspired micro and nanostructure
  • bioinspired functions

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Review

46 pages, 20947 KB  
Review
Bioinspired Heat Exchangers: A Multi-Scale Review of Thermo-Hydraulic Performance Enhancement
by Hyunsik Yang, Jinhyun Pi, Soyoon Park and Wongyu Bae
Biomimetics 2026, 11(1), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010076 - 16 Jan 2026
Viewed by 158
Abstract
Heat exchangers are central to energy and process industries, yet performance is bounded by the trade-off between higher heat transfer and greater pressure drop. This review targets indirect-type heat exchangers and organizes bioinspired strategies through a multi-scale lens of surface, texture, and network [...] Read more.
Heat exchangers are central to energy and process industries, yet performance is bounded by the trade-off between higher heat transfer and greater pressure drop. This review targets indirect-type heat exchangers and organizes bioinspired strategies through a multi-scale lens of surface, texture, and network scales. It provides a structured comparison of their thermo-hydraulic behaviors and evaluation methods. At the surface scale, control of wettability and liquid-infused interfaces suppresses icing and fouling and stabilizes condensation. At the texture scale, microstructures inspired by shark skin and fish scales regulate near-wall vortices to balance drag reduction with heat-transfer enhancement. At the network scale, branched and bicontinuous pathways inspired by leaf veins, lung architectures, and triply periodic minimal surfaces promote uniform distribution and mixing, improving overall performance. The survey highlights practical needs for manufacturing readiness, durability, scale-up, and validation across operating ranges. By emphasizing analysis across scales rather than reliance on a single metric, the review distills design principles and selection guidelines for next-generation bioinspired heat exchangers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025)
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28 pages, 14228 KB  
Review
Research Progress on Biomimetic Water Collection Materials
by Hengyu Pan, Lingmei Zhu, Huijie Wei, Tiance Zhang, Boyang Tian, Jianhua Wang, Yongping Hou and Yongmei Zheng
Biomimetics 2026, 11(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics11010067 - 13 Jan 2026
Viewed by 336
Abstract
Water scarcity constitutes a major global challenge. Biomimetic water collection materials, which mimic the efficient water capture and transport mechanisms, offer a crucial approach to addressing the water crisis. This review summarizes the research progress on biomimetic water collection materials, focusing on biological [...] Read more.
Water scarcity constitutes a major global challenge. Biomimetic water collection materials, which mimic the efficient water capture and transport mechanisms, offer a crucial approach to addressing the water crisis. This review summarizes the research progress on biomimetic water collection materials, focusing on biological prototypes, operational mechanisms, and core aspects of biomimetic design. Typical water-collecting biological surfaces in nature exhibit distinctive structure–function synergy: spider silk achieves directional droplet transport via periodic spindle-knot structures, utilizing Laplace pressure difference and surface energy gradient; the desert beetle’s back features hydrophilic microstructures and a hydrophobic waxy coating, forming a fog-water collection system based on heterogeneous wettability; cactus spines enhance droplet transport efficiency through the synergy of gradient grooves and barbs; and shorebird beaks enable rapid water convergence via liquid bridge effects. These biological prototypes provide vital inspiration for the design of biomimetic water collection materials. Drawing on biological mechanisms, researchers have developed diverse biomimetic water collection materials. This review offers a theoretical reference for their structural design and performance enhancement, highlighting bio-inspiration’s core value in high-efficiency water collection material development. Additionally, this paper discusses challenges and opportunities of these materials, providing insights for advancing the engineering application of next-generation high-efficiency biomimetic water collection materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025)
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Graphical abstract

43 pages, 20891 KB  
Review
Recent Advances in Biomimetic Porous Materials for Real-World Applications
by Qunren Qiu, Yi Yang, Fanghua Liang, Gang Wang, Xuelong Han, Chuanfeng Zang and Mingzheng Ge
Biomimetics 2025, 10(8), 521; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10080521 - 8 Aug 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3105
Abstract
Bionic synthesis technology has made significant breakthroughs in porous functional materials by replicating and optimizing biological structures. For instance, biomimetic titanium dioxide-coated carbon multilayer materials, prepared via biological templating, exhibit a hierarchical structure, abundant nanopores, and synergistic effects. Bionic mineralization further enhances microcapsules [...] Read more.
Bionic synthesis technology has made significant breakthroughs in porous functional materials by replicating and optimizing biological structures. For instance, biomimetic titanium dioxide-coated carbon multilayer materials, prepared via biological templating, exhibit a hierarchical structure, abundant nanopores, and synergistic effects. Bionic mineralization further enhances microcapsules by forming a secondary inorganic wall, granting them superior impermeability, high elastic modulus, and hardness. Through techniques like molecular self-assembly, electrospinning, and pressure-driven fusion, researchers have successfully fabricated centimeter-scale artificial lamellar bones without synthetic polymers. In environmental applications, electrospun membranes inspired by lotus leaves and bird bones achieve 99.94% separation efficiency for n-hexane–water mixtures, retaining nearly 99% efficiency after 20 cycles. For energy applications, an all-ceramic silica nanofiber aerogel with a bionic blind bristle structure demonstrates ultralow thermal conductivity (0.0232–0.0643 W·m−1·K−1) across a broad temperature range (−50 to 800 °C). This review highlights the preparation methods and recent advances in biomimetic porous materials for practical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025)
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33 pages, 5578 KB  
Review
Underwater Drag Reduction Applications and Fabrication of Bio-Inspired Surfaces: A Review
by Zaixiang Zheng, Xin Gu, Shengnan Yang, Yue Wang, Ying Zhang, Qingzhen Han and Pan Cao
Biomimetics 2025, 10(7), 470; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10070470 - 17 Jul 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3431
Abstract
As an emerging energy-saving approach, bio-inspired drag reduction technology has become a key research direction for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This study introduces the latest research progress on bio-inspired microstructured surfaces in the field of underwater drag reduction, focusing on [...] Read more.
As an emerging energy-saving approach, bio-inspired drag reduction technology has become a key research direction for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This study introduces the latest research progress on bio-inspired microstructured surfaces in the field of underwater drag reduction, focusing on analyzing the drag reduction mechanism, preparation process, and application effect of the three major technological paths; namely, bio-inspired non-smooth surfaces, bio-inspired superhydrophobic surfaces, and bio-inspired modified coatings. Bio-inspired non-smooth surfaces can significantly reduce the wall shear stress by regulating the flow characteristics of the turbulent boundary layer through microstructure design. Bio-inspired superhydrophobic surfaces form stable gas–liquid interfaces through the construction of micro-nanostructures and reduce frictional resistance by utilizing the slip boundary effect. Bio-inspired modified coatings, on the other hand, realize the synergistic function of drag reduction and antifouling through targeted chemical modification of materials and design of micro-nanostructures. Although these technologies have made significant progress in drag reduction performance, their engineering applications still face bottlenecks such as manufacturing process complexity, gas layer stability, and durability. Future research should focus on the analysis of drag reduction mechanisms and optimization of material properties under multi-physical field coupling conditions, the development of efficient and low-cost manufacturing processes, and the enhancement of surface stability and adaptability through dynamic self-healing coatings and smart response materials. It is hoped that the latest research status of bio-inspired drag reduction technology reviewed in this study provides a theoretical basis and technical reference for the sustainable development and energy-saving design of ships and underwater vehicles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025)
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23 pages, 5262 KB  
Review
Directional Liquid Transport on Biomimetic Surface with Wedge-Shaped Pattern: Mechanism, Construction, and Applications
by Qing’an Meng, Junjie Zhou, Jie Pang, Luofeng Wang, Kaicheng Yang, Zhangcan Li and Jiayu Xie
Biomimetics 2025, 10(5), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomimetics10050298 - 8 May 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1806
Abstract
Natural organisms have evolved highly sophisticated mechanisms for managing water across a broad range of environmental conditions, from arid to highly humid regions. Among these mechanisms, directional liquid transport (DLT) is particularly noteworthy, as it relies on structural designs that facilitate the spontaneous [...] Read more.
Natural organisms have evolved highly sophisticated mechanisms for managing water across a broad range of environmental conditions, from arid to highly humid regions. Among these mechanisms, directional liquid transport (DLT) is particularly noteworthy, as it relies on structural designs that facilitate the spontaneous movement of liquids along predefined pathways without the need for external energy sources. The increasing interest in DLT systems is primarily driven by their potential applications in fields such as microfluidics, water harvesting, and biomedical engineering. The focus on DLT is motivated by its ability to inspire efficient, energy-independent liquid transport technologies, which hold significant promise for both fundamental research and practical applications. Notably, wedge-shaped DLT systems have emerged as a particularly promising area of study due to their advantages in terms of manufacturability, liquid collection efficiency, and scalability—attributes that are essential for industrial deployment. This review seeks to explore natural wedge-based DLT systems, providing an in-depth analysis of their underlying principles and their potential for engineering replication. The discussion includes examples from nature, such as desert beetles and spider silk, and explores the theoretical mechanisms governing these systems, including the role of surface energy gradients and Laplace pressure. Additionally, the review highlights advanced fabrication techniques, such as photolithography and laser micromachining, which are crucial for the development of these systems in practical applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Biomimetic Surfaces and Interfaces 2025)
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