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Nature-Inspired Materials Science - Challenges and Opportunities
Wednesday, March 10, 2021: 2:40 PM - 3:15 PM
Speaker(s)
Description
The skilled use of natural materials and structures, and their striking mechanical efficiency, such as unique combinations of strength and toughness, have played a key role in the development of mankind and technology, and the course of history. Built at ambient temperatures from a fairly limited selection of components, they usually comprise hard and soft phases arranged in complex hierarchical architectures, with characteristic dimensions spanning from the nanoscale to the macroscale. The considerable advantage we have over our ancestors, today, is that we cannot only successfully apply and use biological materials in their "native" state, but that we have tools to investigate and test them at almost all levels of their structural hierarchy to identify structure-property correlations and principles of function and optimization. Considerable challenges persist related to the design of synthetic materials that mimic the performance-defining features of their natural counterparts and their fabrication in bulk with a fast and easy production process. One example of a manufacturing process that shows promise is the directional solidification of water-based solutions and slurries, also termed freeze casting or ice templating. Freeze casting offers a relatively fast route for self-assembled structures with complex architectures. Reviewed in this presentation will be design motifs and the mechanical performance of a range of natural materials, resulting design requirements for nature-inspired materials, and opportunities and challenges associated with the freeze casting process and its application to the large range of polymer, ceramic, metal, and hybrid materials that can be manufactured with it. Highlighted will be different mechanisms that drive structure formation during processing by directional solidification and how these can be employed in the material’s structural and property optimization for biomedical and energy applications.
Additional Info
Keywords: Please select up to 4 keywords ONLY:
Biomedical,Food Science,Materials Characterization,Nuclear
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