Plant-inspired fluidic metamaterials

Controlling fluid flow is a fundamental problem with applications from biomedicine to

environmental engineering. Contemporary solutions combine electromechanical sensors, valves,

and pumps; however, these are expensive and difficult to maintain. We report an autonomous flow

control principle inspired by vascular transport in plants. Combining experiments on real and

biomimetic tissues, we show that networks of cells linked by nonlinear valves permit the physical

programming of a nearly arbitrary pressure drop versus flow rate relation. The nonlinearity is a

consequence of fluid-structure interactions that allow a flexible element to block the valve aperture

selectively.