Abstract
The rise in structural performance requirements in engineering is driving the research and development of stronger, stiffer, and lighter materials. However, most traditional artificial materials are unable to meet the needs of modern industrial and technological development. In fact, multifarious creatures in nature are further ahead in their use of structural materials. There is a fairly limited selection of natural structural materials at ambient temperatures. They usually consist of hard and soft phases arranged in a complex hierarchy with characteristic dimensions ranging from nanoscale to macroscale. The resulting materials usually show a nearly perfect combination of strength and toughness integrated with lightweight characteristics. This is exactly what is required of engineering materials. In this review, different biological materials were divided into the following types in terms of structural elements: 1D fibrous structures, 2D layered structures, 3D cellular structures and heterogeneous interface structures. For each structural element, corresponding structure components and mechanical properties of typical organisms were well described. Abundant sophisticated models of natural biological structures were discussed contrastively. The purpose of this review was to summarize the excellent properties of multi-dimensional biological models with cross-scale features and to reveal the relationship between structure characteristics and function mechanism, which could provide valuable references for the design and optimization of a future biomimetic composite with high mechanical performance. This review is anticipated to not only inspire novel biomimetic design but also offer a window for the deep understanding of existing outstanding structural composites in diversified species, which could provide continuous innovative power for composite renovation in many engineering fields.
Highlights
For engineering materials, an increase in elastic modulus is often accompanied by a decrease in toughness, while the stiffness of biological materials can be significantly increased without reducing the toughness
As mentioned in previous sections, the superior mechanical of biological materials often result from their different structural elements with a complex hierarchical structure
Lightweight and high-performance materials with both strength and toughness are highly desirable in various engineering fields
Summary
Most of the above-mentioned research mainly focused on preparation methods of biomimetic structures in artificial materials, the mechanism of the relationship between structure and performance and their applications in specific fields. Taking the nacre structure with excellent mechanical properties as an example, it can be divided into biological ceramics according to its main material composition [11]. We divided different biological materials into the following types of structural elements based on their dimensions: 1D fibrous structures, 2D layered structures, 3D cellular structures and heterogeneous interface structures. A critical outlook of the development of next-generation materials with excellent mechanical properties by synthesizing bionic strategies of different dimensions and different creatures was provided, which will better satisfy the demand for the research development of engineering and industrial materials
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