Nature-Inspired, Multi-Functional Surface Coatings for Sustainable Life Support in Space and on Earth

Currently, existing water recovery, microbial contamination mechanisms, and ionizing radiation protection are inadequate for future long duration spaceflight missions to Moon, Mars, and beyond. These factors threaten the integrity of materials, bio-regenerative life support systems, but more importantly, the health of astronauts, and thus, finding new approaches for sustainable life support is crucial. In this research, we present the design of a nature-inspired, multi-functional surface coating, which absorbs excess atmospheric moisture produced by astronauts' indoors activities. Further, the proposed surface coating could lead to the transport of microbes and could enhance radiation shielding. Inspired by nature, it consists of artificially designed hollow microstructures, which are fabricated by a high-resolution additive manufacturing technique. Aim of this research is to improve passive systems, and therefore, reducing the energy consumption of applications in space and on Earth.