Biomimetic Engineering for Water Harvesting: 3D Printed Solutions for Arid Regions

Abstract

Approximately 33% of the Earth's surface has an arid climate, affecting around 2.4 billion people (as of 2020) who face challenges accessing water for agriculture, hygiene, and sanitation. Over millions of years, nature has evolved ingenious strategies for survival in such environments. One notable example is the Namib Desert tenebrionid beetle, which collects water from fog using its elytra-a shell featuring a pattern of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces. Inspired by this natural mechanism, this project developed 3D-printed green superhydrophilic/superhydrophobic hybrid surfaces and evaluated their water collection performance in a controlled climate chamber simulating arid conditions. The coated surfaces demonstrated a 4-5× improvement in water collection efficiency compared to uncoated samples. Both spiked and beetle-inspired designs were tested, revealing that larger spikes or bumps collected nearly twice as much water, while the beetle-like channel structures also proved effective. Overall, hybrid coatings outperformed fully hydrophilic or hydrophobic surfaces. These findings offer valuable insights into the design and engineering of efficient and sustainable water harvesting technologies for arid regions.