Nature-inspired materials: Emerging trends and prospects

TLDR

Nature‑inspired research seeks to understand, synthesize, and imitate natural objects or phenomena—especially tangible materials such as aquaporins—to gain improved insights and practical applications. This review aims to define, clarify, and consolidate current knowledge of nature‑inspired materials, surveying laboratory to industrial examples to highlight emerging opportunities. The authors review laboratory‑to‑industrial examples of nature‑inspired materials to consolidate understanding. Nature‑inspired materials exhibit specific functionalities that harness electrical, mechanical, biological, chemical, sustainable, or combined gains.

Abstract

Abstract The term “nature-inspired” is associated with a sequence of efforts to understand, synthesize and imitate any natural object or phenomenon either in a tangible or intangible form, which allows us to obtain improved insights into nature. Such inspirations can come through materials, processes, or designs that we see around us. Materials, as opposed to processes and designs found in nature, are tangible and can readily be used without engineering efforts. One such example is that of an aquaporin that is used to filter water. The scope of this work in nature-inspired materials is to define, clarify, and consolidate our current understanding by reviewing examples from the laboratory to industrial scale to highlight emerging opportunities. A careful analysis of “nature-inspired materials” shows that they possess specific functionality that relies on our ability to harness particular electrical, mechanical, biological, chemical, sustainable, or combined gains.