2026 Muller Bioinspired Microtopographic Surfaces

Living nature uses much less chemical diversity than we do in our technical systems but in turn achieves advanced functionalities through evolutionarily optimized surfaces in the scale of micrometers and sub-micrometers. Using such functional topographies as an additional degree of freedom for surface design provides promising prospects for current and future technical applications, especially facing the demands in modern human society considering energy efficiency and material circularity. This has become achievable by means of well-defined biomimetic surface patterns on technical materials that are generated via direct laser interference patterning (DLIP). The variety of optimized functional surfaces spans from fields like tribology, electrical contacts up to antimicrobial or biocompatible properties in health applications. The technology benefits from parallel topographic as well as physicochemical surface conditioning which applies a multi-modal impact on surface functionality creating a novel class of “META-surfaces.” This article discusses examples of the various functionalization with significant functional effects, as well as recent extensive experiments on antimicrobial material surfaces in space, based on DLIP to support the health of astronauts on the ISS and, in the future, also on the Moon and Mars.