Aerogel-Involved Triple-State Gels Resemble Natural Living Leaves in Structure and Multi-Functions

Natural plant leaves with multiple functions, for example, spectral features, transpiration, photosynthesis, etc., have played a significant role in the ecosystem, and artificial synthesis of plant leaves with multiple functions of natural ones is still a great challenge. Herein, this work presents an aerogel-involved living leaf (AL), most similar to natural ones so far, by embedding super-hydrophobic SiO₂ aerogel microparticles in polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel in the presence of hygroscopic salt and chlorophyllin copper sodium to form solid-liquid-vapor triple-state gel. The AL shows a high spectral similarity with all sampled 15 species of natural leaves and exhibits ≈4-7 times transpiration speed higher than natural leaves. More importantly, AL can achieve several times higher photosynthesis than natural leaves without the energy provided by the respiratory action of natural ones. This work demonstrates the feasibility of creating ALs with natural leaf-like triple-state gel structures and multiple functions, opening up new avenues for energy conversion, environmental engineering, and biomimetic applications.