Nature inspired emerging sensing technology: Recent progress and perspectives

Biological systems include several well-known patterns with different forms and dimensions (nano to macro) such as cracks, whiskers, hierarchical, interlocked, porous, and bristle-like structures, as well as hetero-layered brick-and-mortar structures. These structures and surfaces typically have several functions based on their structure and surface chemistry which include static coloration, self-cleaning, adhesive, underwater navigation and object detection, electric charge generation, and highly sensitive olfactory organ to sense and detect various substances. A new era of bio-inspired sensing materials with an effort to copy structures or functions of living creatures (i.e. plant and animals) has recently attracted widespread attention. This review summarizes the latest developments in bio-inspired sensing and biosensing materials and focuses on the design and mechanisms to analyse their potential in multifunctional sensing applications. Primarily, this review highlights various bioinspired structural features and their functional properties, followed by an overview of the fundamental mechanisms of distinct living creatures, including animals and plants, in brief. Thereafter, various sensing and biosensing applications of these nature-inspired structures/functions are elaborately described. Finally, the challenges and prospects of nature-inspired smart sensing and biosensing technology for the 21st century are provided.