Bioprocess-inspired fabrication of materials with new structures and functions

doi:10.1016/j.pmatsci.2019.05.004

Progress in Materials Science

Volume 105, August 2019, 100571

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2019.05.004 Get rights and content

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Abstract

Strategies that attempt to mimic the well-defined structures or unique functions of natural biological materials have succeeded in designing and synthesizing bio-inspired materials in the past twenty years. Furthermore, natural structure-forming processes in biological systems can efficiently and accurately fabricate biomaterials under environmentally benign conditions, in contrast to our anthropogenic technologies wherein harsh conditions are commonly prerequisites. Hence, natural structure-forming processes are well worth studying in pursuit of new techniques for fabricating advanced materials with novel structures and functions, a new research direction, called “bioprocess-inspired fabrication” has been proposed in recent years. In this review, we systematically introduce and evaluate the advance of bioprocess-inspired fabrication of materials for the first time. We describe advances in the exploration and development of bioprocess-inspired fabrication technology and related exquisite materials. We summarize in detail the advances in biomineralization, photosynthesis and other bioprocess-inspired fabrication methods, and have finally discussed some new ideas and directions that need to be emphasized in the future. Bioprocess-inspired fabrication of materials will convey far-reaching implications for materials science, life science, biology, chemistry and other related interdisciplinary fields.

Keywords

Bioprocess-inspired fabrication

Structures and functions

Biomineralization-inspired

Photosynthesis-inspired

Additive manufacturing

Cited by (0)

Dr. Jingjing Xie received her PhD (2015) in materials science from the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) and then joined the group of bioprocess-inspired fabrication as a senior researcher in the State Key Lab of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing in WUT. She is the earliest researcher in the group who began the work on natural living organisms directed synthesis. Her current research is focused on bioprocess-inspired fabrication.

Dr. Hang Ping received his Bachelor degree in materials science and technology (2010) from Qingdao Technological University, Master degree in Material Science (2013) and Ph. D. in materials processing engineering (2017) from the Wuhan University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Zhengyi Fu and Prof. Dr. Hao Xie. He is currently a postdoc in Wuhan University of Technology. His research interests mainly focus on biomineralization-inspired synthesis and other bioprocess inspired synthesis.

Dr. Tiening Tan received his B.E. degree from Wuhan University of Technology in 2012. He is now pursuing his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Wuhan University of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Zhengyi Fu. His current research interests focus on photosynthesis-inspired fabrication of inorganic materials and construction of artificial photosynthetic systems.

Dr. Liwen Lei received her Bachelor degree, Master degree and Ph.D.degree from Wuhan University of Technology. She is currently an associate professor of School of Material Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology. Her research interests include ultrafine nano-powder production and nanoceramic powders.

Prof. Hao Xie received his Ph.D. (2000) from the University of Leeds, UK. He is a professor at the Wuhan University of Technology. His research interests are protein engineering, organic-inorganic composite materials, and biomimetic nanotechnology. He has gained grants from various organizations including the National Science Foundation of China and Ministry of Education of China. He has published 60 scientific papers and obtained 10 patents.

Prof. Xiao-Yu Yang earned his PhD from Jilin University (co-educated at the University of Namur, Belgium). After post-doctoral research at the University of Namur with Prof. Bao-Lian Su, he worked as a “Chargéde Recherches” at the F.N.R.S. (National Foundation of Scientific Research) since 2008. He is currently working as Chutian Professor at Wuhan University of Technology. His research is aimed at novel porous systems, green chemistry, self-assembly techniques and their applications in energy, environment and catalysis.

Prof. Zhengyi Fu received his Ph.D. (1994) from the Wuhan University of Technology. He finished part of his Ph.D. research work in the University of California, Davis, in 1990–1991.He is a chief professor at the Wuhan University of Technology and Cheung Kong Scholar of the Ministry of Education of China. He is an academician of the World Academy of Ceramics. His research interests are multifunctional materials, nano-materials, advanced sintering, and bioprocess-inspired fabrication. He has published 330 scientific papers and obtained 57 patents. He has been awarded by the China National Innovation Award (2017), Academic Leader for Outstanding Innovative Group of NSFC of China (2015), National High-level Talents Special Supporting Expert by State Council of China (2014), two Second-class Award of National Technology Invention Prizes (2012, 2015) issued by the State Council of China.

¹: They contribute equally in this work.