Complex Materials

Complex materials are widespread in nature and have been around for a very long time. But what are complex materials? Since artificial complex materials are still to be developed, looking into natural materials like bone, teeth, diatoms and seashells is the best way to find out what a complex material really is. Alike these biological structures, complex materials are those

1. that exhibit a hierarchically organized structure made up of self-assembled building units ranging from nanometers to millimeters in size,
2. that intimately combine organic molecules, inorganic matter and living cells in one single system,
3. that are capable of interacting, self-healing, evolving and adapting in response to external stimuli, and
4. that have a structure intricately designed and optimized to fulfill multiple specific functions.

Combining these exquisite features into one single material has been so far only possible through biomineralization processes mediated by living cells. While man-devised processing tools are still primitive compared to nature’s biomineralization processes, we believe that novel processing strategies can be developed to enable the fabrication of artificial complex materials that capture some of the unique features of rigid biological structures. The ability to create such complex structures in a reproducible and controlled manner using a vast repertoire of chemical compositions should lead to a new generation of smart, functional materials and devices.