Micrometer‐to‐Nanometer Replication of Hierarchical Structures by Using a Surface Sol–Gel Process

The sol–gel process has been shown to replicate materials with high precision on both the micro- and nanometer scales. Paper, cotton, and cloth templates combine with a surface sol–gel process in order to maintain details of hierarchical structural properties by producing a self-supporting material consisting of interwoven and branched tubes that result from fibers less than 100 nm in diameter (see SEM image; scale bar=2 μm).