# Plant Foliar Geometry as a Biomimetic Template for Antenna Design
## 5 Conclusions  
The foliar geometries of 100 plant species were analyzed and applied as a biomimetic design template for patch antenna systems. The foliar geometry per species was processed through image processing analyses, and the resultant geometries were used in simulations of the reflection coefficients and the radiation patterns via the method of FDTD. Furthermore, the effect of the leaf geometric characteristics (elliptic, obovate, ovate, oblong, toothed, lobed leaves, pinnately lobed) was analyzed to study the design impact. This impact study was achieved by selecting and analyzing seven species from tropical and temperate forests across the phylogeny of the Angiosperms.  
The obovate geometry presented the best behavior for high frequencies. The toothed case provided more frequency bands below 10 GHz. The circular base geometry (the widest plant leaf) generated the best radiation characteristics, and the pinnately lobed case provided the widest frequency band. All the design cases presented multiple operation frequencies. All the design cases generated a multiband response in the behavior of the reflection coefficient. All species showed between 3 and 15 operational frequencies, and four species had operational frequencies that included the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. The reflection coefficients and the radiation patterns in most of the designs were equal or superior to those of conventional antennas, with several species showing multiband effects and omnidirectional radiation.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Plant Leaf or Antenna Element** & **Geometry** & **Design Impact** & **Operation Frequencies below 10 GHz (GHz)** \\ \hline _Tetrapterys macrocarpa_ & elliptic & six frequency bands below 5 GHz & 0.87, 1.62, 2.19, 2.61, 3.3, 4.11, \\ Malpighiaceae & & & 9.27 \\ \hline _Quercus alba_ Fagaceae & pinnately lobed & widest frequency band & 2.49, 3.18, 3.84, 4.62, 5.88, 7.65, 8.49, 9.54 \\ \hline _Cissampelos ouriensis_ & circular base & better radiation characteristics & 1.2, 1.71, 2.49, 3.06, 3.87, 6.27, \\ Menispermeaceae & & & 8.73, 11.61 \\ \hline _Liquidamhar styricfilua_ & lobed leaves & seven frequency bands below 10 GHz & 2.01, 4.23, 5.58, 6.06, 7.35, 7.92, \\ Hamamelidaceae & & & 8.37, 9.09, 9.57, 10.83 \\ \hline _Sarcoshachis naranjoana_ & & & 1.26, 2.34, 3.24, 3.63, 4.65, 5.43, \\ Piperaceae & & eight frequency bands below 10 GHz & 6.75, 7.26, 7.8, 8.36, 8.91, 9.51, \\  & & & 10.02 \\ \hline _Paranomus spectrum_ & & & 1.59, 2.34, 2.76, 5.31, 5.94, 6.48, \\ Proteaceae & & best behavior for high frequencies & 7.56, 8.7, 9.84 \\ \hline _Cesearia licifolia_ Salicaceae & & & 0.9, 1.74, 2.46, 3.3, 4.62, 5.91, \\  & & & 6.51, 6.99, 7.47, 8.28, 9.00, 9.75 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 9: Comparative analysis of the performance of each plant leaf design.  
**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, M.A.P. and R.M.-A.; methodology, J.I.L. and R.M.-A.; software, J.I.L. and M.A.P.; validation, A.R. and R.C.; formal analysis, M.A.A.-A.; investigation, J.I.L., M.A.P. and R.M.-A.; data curation, A.R. and R.C.; writing--original draft preparation, M.A.A.-A.; writing--review and editing, R.M.-A., M.A.A.-A.; visualization, R.C.; supervision, M.A.P., R.M.-A., M.A.A.-A., R.C.; project administration, A.R.; funding acquisition, M.A.P. and R.M.-A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
**Funding:** This research received no external funding.  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.