Hierarchical biological materials – structure, design and synthesis

What if we could design materials that integrate powerful concepts of living organisms - self-organization, the ability to self-heal, tunability, and an amazing flexibility to create astounding material properties from abundant and inexpensive raw materials? This talk will present a review of bottom-up analysis and design of materials for various purposes - as structural materials such as bone in our body or for lightweight composites, for applications as coatings, and as multifunctional sensors to measure small changes in humidity, temperature or stress. These new materials are designed from the bottom up and through a close coupling of experiment and powerful computation as we assemble structures, atom by atom. We review case studies of joint experimental-computational work of biomimetic materials design, manufacturing and testing for the development of strong, tough and smart mutable materials for applications as protective coatings, cables and structural materials. The use of a new paradigm to design materials from the bottom up plays a critical role in advanced manufacturing, providing flexibility, tailorability and efficiency.