Coupled bionic structures bring breakthroughs beyond imagination to engineering: From mere shape similarity to harmonized form and performance

Life fully exploits the laws of nature, evolving a diverse array of exceptional functional structures. These natural designs have inspired innovative ideas, principles, and methodologies to advance numerous engineering technologies, spanning water access, aerospace, biomedical applications, and energy production. Although a singular bionic structure can demonstrate remarkable performance and functionality, the integration of multiple superior biological structures often yields superior outcomes, particularly when human intelligence facilitates cross coupling innovations. Herein, we explore through specific examples the application of superior coupled biological structures to the field of engineering, enabling functional surfaces, materials, energy systems, sensors and actuators to achieve bionic performance closer to biological functions. Meanwhile, we emphasize the merits and challenges inherent in the application of bio-coupled structures for performance enhancement and multifunctional integration of engineering systems.