A Quasi-mimetics Approach for Uncovering Starch-based Hybrid Materials

Materials design through biomimetics aims to achieve functions similar to those found in nature. However, this requires a thorough understanding of the system used for mimicking (SuM), which would become a challenge when SuM is complex. Here, we propose a quasi-mimetics approach, which focuses on partial components in the SuM. Different from biomimetics, quasi-mimetics aims to probe the elusive behaviors in the complex SuM, as well as to uncover new functions not found in SuM. We illustrate this approach with a starch particle-embedded hydrogel composite where noodle dough serves as a SuM. The starch hybrid composite displays unprecedentedly high stretchability both in air and water, self-healing behavior, and strain-dependent mechanical training effect. Our mechanistic study showed that the unique mechanical features of the starch hybrid gel are related to the formation of covalent bonds between the interface of the starch particles and polymer network, as well as the dynamic hydrogen bonds in the hydrogel matrix. The new quasi-mimetics approach can be broadly applied to other material exploration and device applications.