Radial symmetry is a recurring outcome of morphogenesis in nature, shaping the architecture of flowers, jellyfish, echinoderms, and other organisms where form and function are tightly intertwined. Replicating such complex, symmetric microstructures in engineered materials, however, has remained a persistent challenge. Here we introduce morphogeneration , a fabrication approach that harnesses chaotic fluid dynamics to create finely resolved, radially symmetric architectures with high reproducibility at micro- and nano-level. At the core of this method is a custom-designed static device, the morphogenerator , which transforms fluid motion into controlled, flower-like morphologies by deterministic stretching and folding of interfaces. Through computational fluid dynamics simulations and experiments with sodium alginate hydrogels, we show that microstructural features can be predictably tuned by adjusting device geometry, flow rate, and inlet configuration. Unlike conventional mixers that homogenize fluids, the morphogenerator preserves sharp interfaces while enabling scalable, high-precision patterning across soft matter systems. This strategy provides a versatile platform for translating the generative principles of morphogenesis into engineered contexts, with broad applications in microfluidics, materials engineering, and biomimetic environments. • This paper introduces morphogeneration, a scalable method for producing symmetric, flower-like microstructures. • “The morphogeneration concept, inspired by static mixer architectures, is introduced as a strategy to generate microstructures through engineered fluid stretching.” • “Symmetric radial patterns resembling flower-like morphologies, ranging from two to seven petals, are experimentally demonstrated with feature resolution down to 10 μm using sol–gel systems.” • “The morphogeneration approach generates complex microstructures via flow-driven structuring without extending processing time relative to lower-resolution processes (e.g. 3D printing).” • “Computational fluid dynamics simulations successfully predict the experimentally observed morphologies, providing a reliable tool for structural design.”
Rehmat et al. (Fri,) studied this question.