Fig. 1: Nature-inspired design of the surface-tension-assisted two-step (STATS) manufacturing process.
From: A bioinspired surface tension-driven route toward programmed cellular ceramics
a Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images of diatoms with diverse frustule morphologies. Scale bar, 10 μm. Reproduced with permission from ref. 12, copyright 2009, WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. b The biomineralization of silica frustule and diatomite formation, including the silification process, the assembly of the silica frustule and the sedimentation process. Inset shows the optical image of Melosira, a genus of diatoms with chain structure. Scale bar, 20 μm. Inset optical image is modified from http://flickr.com/, licensed under a Creative Common Attribution 2.0 Generic License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/). c The key points of the STATS manufacturing process inspired by the biomineralization of silica frustule, including (i) two-step processing, which separates constituent synthesis from structure building, (ii) surface tension driven, which contributes to the solution capture in programmed arrangement, and (iii) cell-based design, in which the concept of modular design and hierarchical structures is introduced to the microarchitected lattices composed of diverse unit columns, which are further constituted by basic unit cells. d The optical images of the architected cellular ceramics from resin frame, captured solution, to sintered ceramics during the manufacturing. Scale bar, 5 mm. Insets show the evolution of the unit cell with an edge length of 1.5 mm.
