Bioinspired Materials Science

为了实现生物系统在能量、时间和空间上的最佳效率，自然界发展了一些非凡的策略，这些策略依赖于个体结构组件的自组装、结构层次、自我塑造和协同特性。这些策略激励材料和聚合物科学家进行生物启发的研究，并创造具有遵循生物主题的组成和结构的人造材料。**我们的研究计划旨在发展对自然开发的材料设计中潜在机制的基本理解。这些策略将被用来产生新的、具有生物灵感的材料，其特性要么模仿，要么超过生物系统的特性。申请者群体在聚合物、胶体和材料科学、纳米科学和微流变学方面的实力对拟议的研究至关重要。**拟议的研究计划的第一个主题包括开发智能、响应性强的聚合物材料。受植物纤维组织特性的启发，我们将设计包括凝胶和弹性体在内的自成形复合聚合物材料，探索由预先设计的内应力控制的新的形状转变，并开发用于自成形生物系统的合成模型。**一系列项目旨在设计和开发生物纳米纤维细胞外微环境的合成聚合物类似物。我们的方法将利用嵌段共聚物或纤维素纳米纤维的柱状胶束在水凝胶中的可逆自组装，具有可控的生物物理特性和细胞黏附特性。水凝胶将用于细胞的封装和培养。**第三个研究主题集中在手性等离子体材料上，这种材料将通过在植物组织中复制天然纳米纤维形成的手性向列结构而产生，并探索其新的光学性质。**拟议的研究计划的结果将使我们更好地理解自然界在进化过程中发展出来的设计原理，将带来材料科学的新战略，并将显著增强我们制造具有先进性能的功能材料的能力。

To achieve the best energy-, time- and space-efficient performance of biological systems, nature has developed remarkable strategies that rely on self-assembly, structural hierarchy, self-shaping, and synergetic properties of individual structural components. These strategies motivate materials and polymer scientists to conduct bio-inspired research and create man-made materials with the composition and structure that follow a biological motif.**Our research program aims at the development of fundamental understanding of the underlying mechanisms in the material design developed by nature. These strategies will be used to generate new, bioinspired materials with properties that either mimic, or exceed the properties of biological systems. The strength of the applicant group in polymer, colloid and materials science, nanoscience and microfluidics is vital for the proposed research.**The first theme of the proposed research program includes the development of intelligent, responsive polymer materials. Being inspired by the properties of fibrous plant tissues, we will design self-shaping composite polymer materials, including gels and elastomers, explore new shape transitions governed by the pre-designed internal stresses, and develop synthetic models for self-shaping biological systems. **A cluster of projects aims at the design and development of synthetic polymer analogues of biological nanofibrillar extracellular microenvironments. Our approach will utilize reversible self-assembly of cylindrical micelles of block copolymers or cellulose nanofibrils in hydrogels with controllable biophysical properties and cell-adhesive properties. The hydrogels will be used for cell encapsulation and culture.**The third research theme focuses on chiral plasmonic materials, which will be generated by replicating chiral nematic structures formed by natural nanofibrils in plant tissues, and the exploration of their new optical properties. **The results of the proposed research program will lead to an enhanced understanding of the design principles developed by nature in the course of evolution, will bring new strategies in materials science, and will significantly strengthen our ability to generate functional materials with advanced properties.