Chapter 5 - Self-assembling of nanobionics: from theory to applications

Abstract

Nanometer-sized structures, especially bionanomaterials, have attracted major consideration in the last decade, and gained further importance, both in research and their applications. Recently, bionic nanoparticles have gained an increasing significance among the bionanomaterials groups. Bionic nanoparticles have the utmost applications as patterns of the functional biological systems to solve diverse, mainly industrial challenges, for the construction of artificial systems with specific biological characteristics. The study of bionics emphasized the construction of artificial structures with the characteristics of natural materials, instead of reproducing biological assemblies. The study of self-assembled bionic particles’ formation has great importance, since the generation of biological nanostructures in high volume can be materialized via self-assembly approach and are also beneficial in the formation of other structures, such as the development of cell membranes, formation of DNA double helix, creation of protein’s different structures, and certain self-assembled polymers. It is evident from the preparation, characterization, and applications of bionic self-assembled nanoparticles that the combination/application of patterns depicted from the nature with technological processes is highly essential for biological applications. Further, implementations of novel nanostructures have led to the formation of materials with significant characteristics for desired applications. In this chapter, recent advancements in bionics are highlighted as an interdisciplinary field to understand the bionic materials and particles that are mainly fabricated via self-assembly approach.