Next-generation structural materials are expected to be lightweight, high-strength and tough
composites with embedded functionalities to sense, adapt, self-repair, morph and restore …

Gradient structures found in biological materials have served as a source of inspiration for
scientists seeking to enhance the performance of metals and alloys over the past decades …

Liquid crystal is a state of matter being intermediate between solid and liquid. Liquid crystal
materials exhibit both orientational order and fluidity. While liquid crystals have long been …

Living organisms have ingeniously evolved functional gradients and heterogeneities to
create high-performance biological materials from a fairly limited choice of elements and …

Designing and manufacturing multi-functional, lightweight and high-performance body
armour materials and assemblies have attracted intense attention recently due to fast …

Chitin derived from the seafood wastes such as waste crab, shrimp and lobster shells is
abundant and renewable, and will become one of the most important chemical raw …

Eight structural elements in biological materials are identified as the most common amongst
a variety of animal taxa. These are proposed as a new paradigm in the field of biological …

Spider silk is extraordinarily strong, mollusk shells and bone are tough, and porcupine quills
and feathers resist buckling. How are these notable properties achieved? The building …

Natural occurring polymers, or biopolymers, represent a huge part of our planet biomass.
They are formed by long chains of monomers of the same type or a combination of different …

Liquid crystals play an important role in biology because the combination of order and
mobility is a basic requirement for self-organisation and structure formation in living systems …