Bio-inspired, Responsive, and Active Layered Materials: Bringing Synthetic Matter to the Bio-ReALM

Objective

In nature, evolution has shaped biomolecules with out-of-equilibrium processes to create organs with unparalleled mechanical strength and optical complexity. Surprisingly, the intrinsic ordering across many endo- and exoskeletons is the same. Elongated building blocks made of proteins or polysaccharides align and helically stack, forming layered liquid crystal structures. This ordering can be locally disrupted by defects. In arthropods, defects distribute stress and diffusely scatter light, granting the arthropods with astonishing toughness and noniridescent structural color. Materials scientists have long sought to make construction and coating materials more resilient and sustainable by mimicking these properties in the lab. However, the fundamental physics that underlies the formation of these organs is unknown. To date, there is no experimental system that is out-of-equilibrium and has the same layered organization as skeletal organs. To advance bio-inspired technology, the physics of biomineralization must be examined. Here, I will leverage my expertise in liquid crystals and colloid synthesis to develop, from the bottom-up, Bio-inspired, Responsive, and Active Layered Materials, bringing laboratory-produced materials to the Bio-ReALM. With a team of three PhDs, I will shape layered, out-of-equilibrium liquid crystals, using colloidal rods that can swim. The system will be composed of colloids similar in shape and size to the biomolecular building blocks used in nature but that can be imaged with high resolution. Real-space, real-time imaging enables unprecedented detail in defect characterization. The amount and types of defects influence material properties. My team will control defects with activity to advance material optics and mechanics. Using designer colloids, Bio-ReALM will uncover the physics used by nature to bring the exceptional features of living organisms to synthetic matter, increasing the functionality and lifetime of everyday materials.