EUROPEAN CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION ON ADVANCED MATERIALS AND PROCESSES - EUROMAT 2021

Biological material systems are very divers and complex systems that are best adapted to the environment and have been developed and optimized over 3.8 billion years of biological evolution. These systems serve as concept generators and “biological models” for bioinspired material systems that transfer the functions of living nature into technical applications and thus enable novel functions...

Soft robots are increasingly used in remote inspection, medicine and other applications with man-machine-interaction as they allow a safe and “natural” interaction between machines and humans. Within the “GrowBot” project, an interdisciplinary consortium of researchers aims for the development of a new generation of plant-inspired growing soft robots, including the construction of innovative...

The green European mistletoe (Viscum album subsp. album) can even be seen with bare eyes on tree branches. It is the most prominent representative of (hemi-)parasitic plants in Central Europe and deprives its host of water. Both the mistletoe and the host can be regarded as composite materials. The scientific question is: "How can two fiber-reinforced composites connect structurally and...

Within a biomimetic technology pull process, biologists and engineers faced the challenge to develop a plant-inspired actuator without articulated hinges on an architectural scale. Hinges are moveable connection between rigid bodies, which are widespread in animals and technology. However, hinges are subject to wear and tear through friction and thus become prone to failure. In contrast, most...

The connection of different parts with varying geometries is a challenge both in engineering and in nature. A particularly demanding case is the connection of rod-shaped and planar structures. Many technical approaches so far rely a on large number of individual components and are often prone to failure due to areas of high stress and strain occurring between the individual parts. A successful...

In addition to the scent release and the protection from evaporation, the peel of citrus fruits provides mechanical protection. Ripe citrus fruits may drop from heights of up to 20 m, as in pomelo trees, and have to withstand enormous impacts. Within the framework of livMatS, we analyze fruit peels of different citrus species as inspiration for damping technical materials systems. The peel can...

Trees are known to adapt to mechanical requirements by forming material with carefully designed ultrastructure und tuned mechanical properties. They are therefore attractive model systems for bio-inspired materials with optimized properties. Since new wood cells are formed exclusively at the interface between wood and bark (the so called cambium), mechanical stresses at this place at the time...

Tailoring their resistance to twisting and bending under mechanical loading is a necessary evolutionary response of many plants. In particular, increasing the ”twist-to-bend ratio” is often advantageous as it accommodates several effects such as streamlining with the wind in order to reduce drag forces. High twist-to-bend ratios can be achieved by changes to the geometry of the plant stems...

Spider silk is one of nature’s most fascinating materials and has attracted vivid attention due to its strength, toughness, and elasticity [1]. The application of the dragline silk of spider genus Nephila as a filament for nerve guidance conduits has led to promising results in nerve regeneration [2]. However, the use of spider silk has been phenomenological and the reasons for its success are...

Blood clots are an active material in which anucleate cells, called platelets, can extend micrometer-long filopodia to impose contractile forces on the fibrin scaffold that lead to drastic macroscopic changes in the clot volume. Blood clots are involved in physiologic and pathologic processes such as wound healing and thrombosis diseases. Blood clots composition and properties depend on their...

Scaffolds are a necessary tool for the clinical treatment of critical sized bone defects. Additive manufacturing offers the potential to produce personalized porous scaffolds for such tissue engineering applications with unprecedented control of structural and functional design. Particularly for bone defect regeneration, the complex coupling of biological mechanisms to the scaffolds'...

Among the complexity of materials used for repair and regeneration of damaged tissues, rationally designed bioinspired scaffolds that, beside physical support provided for cells, can mimic the structure and biological functions of extracellular matrix, being able to advance the regeneration of pathologically altered tissue represent thriving strategy in biomedicine.
The main objective of this...

Bio-phosphors have emerged as an alternative to rare-earth color down-converting filters in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). They are mainly produced with biogenic emitters, like Fluorescent Proteins (FPs), embedded in polymer matrices.[1–3] The first bio-hybrid LED (Bio-HLED) with FP-phosphors featured a loss <10% of the emission intensity after 100 h.1 This performance was recently enhanced...

Despite extensive research, the manufacture in the bulk of high‐performance flake‐based magnetic composites with a highly aligned, nacre‐like structure remains challenging. Many challenges can be overcome by freeze casting in an externally applied, uniform magnetic field, which causes both the flakes and the composite walls of the cellular solid to align parallel to the B‐field lines. When...

Ivory is one of the most controversial materials in history. On the one hand, it is desired for its aesthetic appearance and its convenient workability, but, on the other hand, its unethical harvesting is not justifiable in modern days. In 1989 an ivory trading ban was passed to restore elephant populations that were diminished due to excessive poaching. Since then, the available resources are...

The demand for sustainable high-performance materials is constantly growing. Biological materials such as wood demonstrate a sophisticated composite design by hierarchical structuring based on various building blocks. For example, supramolecular structuring of β-D-Glucose results in strong and stiff semi-crystalline cellulose fibrils, which are embedded in soft matrix polymers. In bottom-up...

The biological protective structures commonly found in tortoises, fishes, or mollusks rely on assembling the individual stiff elements connected by soft deformable interfaces. However, smaller animals can employ different protective mechanisms. The complex multi-layered outer shell of Daphnia consists of two integuments that enclose a space filled with pressurized hemocoel and fibrous...

Soft robots are a key to a safe and “natural” interaction between machines and humans. The replacement of stiff metal parts by flexible elements with the ability to bend and expand predestines them for applications in a fragile and sensitive environment.
A promising approach for this purpose is the use of bioinspired materials systems and mechanisms. The adaptive or reactive behavior,...

One approach in the development of the multifunctional coatings is to learn from nature and to mimic it. Inspired from the Nepenthes pitcher plant the slippery liquid infused porous surfaces (SLIPS) attracted a lot of attention during the last years. The SLIPS coatings were stated to offer various properties such as anti-ice, scratch resistance, self-healing, self-cleaning, liquids repellency,...

Dealing with mechanical damages is a key element in achieving longevity and durability in materials. The reaction to cope with mechanical damages such as a crack or cut is a fundamental function of biological systems in nature called a self-repair mechanism. The self-repair mechanism can be subdivided into two main phases: self-sealing and self-healing. The knowledge of the self-sealing...