Bio-Inspired complex and adaptive materials and surfaces

大自然通过聚合物构建块的自组装产生分层和复杂的纳米结构和图案。利用这种策略，自然界成功地展示了一系列真正宏伟的彩虹色结构色彩在甲虫--美丽的蝴蝶，蝴蝶--大闪蝶，甚至一些植物--Pollia Condensata和Margaritaria Nobilis。此外，分层天然复合材料展示了轻质，坚固，坚硬和坚韧材料的重要例子，例如松果，木材和珍珠层，仅举几个例子，可以通过自组装和矿化实现机械性能的多样性。受自然界制造颜色的智能策略以及动态变化的启发，这个博士项目的目的是开发纤维素基液晶的软复合材料，该复合材料在平衡状态下并呈现出对环境变化的颜色响应，如化学，温度，机械应变等。虽然天然材料本身具有令人印象深刻的证书，自然界的原子调色板是非常有限的。例如，自然系统不会产生金属表面，也不会产生电场和磁场。因此，使用仿生结构材料作为支架，将生物聚合物的纳米结构与合成纳米颗粒和软物质系统的光学和电子特性联合收割机结合起来，将使我们能够为这些系统带来更多的功能。在Tadeusz博士项目的核心，他的目标是发展对胶体粒子组装动力学的批判性理解;这是一个复杂的主题，并提出了围绕软物质物理，功能陶瓷，混合和无机材料的EPSRC主题的强烈对齐。2因此，该项目最初需要开发基于实验室的技能，Tadeusz将开发纤维素不同的构建块，这些构建块组装成纤维素形式，并使用回填方法或反应性共组装方法与响应性聚合物和功能材料共混，以实现所需的光学，化学和机械敏感性。为了调整颜色响应是理解纤维素纳米纤丝的超分子结构如何实时组装成复杂的分层材料的关键功能。因此，Tadeusz将构建一个光学显微镜装置，该装置能够直接观察自组装，同时从显微镜图像中获取光谱信息。此外，Tadeusz的工作将需要开发加工技术和仪器，以制造，控制和验证具有可切换光学（动态变色系统）和机械（形状记忆，形状自适应和自我修复）特性的新结构的化学，光学和机械行为。在这项工作中使用的方法将提供新的方法，在EPSRC的开发新的表征和模拟工具的理解生物过程和分析科学的材料工程和复合材料的主题。

Nature produces hierarchical and complex nanostuctures and patterns through the self assembly of polymeric building blocks. Using such strategies, nature managed to showcase an array of truly magnificent iridescent structural colouration in beetles-Chrysina gloriosa, and butterflies-Morpho rhetenor and even some plants-Pollia Condensata and Margaritaria Nobilis. Furthermore, hierarchical natural composites demonstrate crucial examples of lightweight, strong, stiff, and tough materials, such as pine cones, wood and nacre to name a few examples of the diversity of the mechanical properties that can be achieved through self-assembly and mineralization.Inspired by nature's smart strategies of fabrication of colour as well the dynamical changes, the aim of this PhD project is to develop soft composites of cellulose based liquid crystals that at equilibrium and present a colour response against the changes in its environment such as chemistry, temperature, mechanical strain etc. While natural materials themselves have impressive credentials, the atomic palette of nature is quite limited. For example, natural systems do not produce metallic surfaces, or produce electric and magnetic fields. Therefore, using biomimetic structured materials as scaffolds to combine the nano-structure of the biopolymers with the optical and electronic properties of the synthetic nanoparticles and soft matter systems will allow us to bring even more functionality to those systems. At the core of Tadeusz's PhD project he is targeting to develop critical understanding on the colloidal particle assembly dynamics; this is a complex topic and presents strong alignment with the EPSRC themes around Soft Matter Physics, functional ceramic, hybrid and inorganic materials.This project is requires development of lab based skills initially therefore , Tadeusz will develop the cellulosic different building blocks that assemble into cholesteric form and blend in with responsive polymers and functional materials either using back filling method or reactive co-assembly methods to achieve the desired optical, chemical and mechanical sensitivities. In order to tune the colour response is a critical function of understanding of how supramolecular architectures of cellulose nanofibrils assemble into complex hierarchical materials in real-time. Therefore, Tadeusz will construct an optical microscopy set-up that has capability of direct observation of the self-assembly whilst taking spectral information from the microscopy image. Furthermore, Tadeusz's work will require developing processing techniques and instrumentation to fabricate, control and characterise the chemical, optical and mechanical behaviour of the new structures with switchable optical (dynamic colour changing systems) and mechanical (shape memory, shape adaptive and self-healing) properties. The methods that are used in this work will supply new approaches in EPSRC's development of novel characterization and simulation tools for the understanding of biological processes and Analytical sciences themes for Materials Engineering and Composites.