The concept of colloids encompasses a wide range of isotropic and anisotropic particles with diverse sizes, shapes, and functions from synthetic nanoparticles, nanorods, and nanosheets to functional biological units. They are addressed in materials science for various functions, while they are ubiquitous in the biological world for multiple functions. A large variety of synthetic colloids have been researched due to their scientific and technological importance; still they characteristically suffer from finite size distributions, imperfect shapes and interactions, and not fully engineered functions. This contrasts with biological colloids that offer precision in their size, shape, and functionality. Materials science has searched for inspiration from the biological world to allow structural control by self-assembly and hierarchy and to identify novel routes for combinations of functions in bio-inspiration.

中文翻译：

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从精密胶体混合材料到高级功能组件

胶体的概念包括范围广泛的各向同性和各向异性颗粒，它们具有不同的尺寸、形状和功能，从合成纳米颗粒、纳米棒和纳米片到功能性生物单元。它们在材料科学中用于各种功能，而它们在生物世界中无处不在，具有多种功能。由于其科学和技术重要性，已经研究了多种合成胶体；它们仍然具有有限的尺寸分布、不完美的形状和相互作用以及不完全工程化的功能。这与提供精确尺寸、形状和功能的生物胶体形成对比。