Biomaterial systems for mechanosensing and actuation

Abstract

Living organisms use composite materials for various functions, such as mechanical support, protection, motility and the sensing of signals. Although the individual components of these materials may have poor mechanical qualities, they form composites of polymers and minerals with a remarkable variety of functional properties. Researchers are now using these natural systems as models for artificial mechanosensors and actuators, through studying both natural structures and their interactions with the environment. In addition to inspiring the design of new materials, analysis of natural structures on this basis can provide insight into evolutionary constraints on structure-function relationships in living organisms and the variety of structural solutions that emerged from these constraints.

Three-dimensional shape transformations of hydrogel sheets induced by small-scale modulation of internal stresses

“…One of the approaches to the design of such materials utilizes the generation of non-uniform internal stresses [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] . In the past decade, bending and folding of soft elastic sheets have been achieved by inducing gradients in swelling across the sheet thickness 11 .…”

A Materiomics Approach to Spider Silk: Protein Molecules to Webs

“…[1][2][3][4][5] The diversified functionality of protein-based materials is often a result of hierarchical structure, rooted in the molecular composition and expanding the material design space to incorporate multiple levels. 4,6,7 Often, the underlying composition of such systems is founded on weak building blocks, which are abundantly available, accessible to build largescale materials through low-energy processing, or have an innate capacity to self-assemble.…”

Are smaller animals behaviourally limited? Lack of clear constraints in miniature spiders

“…Behavioural capacities could be maintained while sacrificing flexibility in their expression, as in the 'matched filters' of Wehner (1987). Intrinsic, adaptive biases in sense organs could in effect perform peripheral pre-analyses of stimuli that would otherwise have to be performed centrally (Fratzl & Barth 2009). The mechanical properties of effector organs could provide partial guidance for otherwise ballistic movements (Seid et al 2008;Chittka & Niven 2009).…”