Camouflaged chameleon skin, invisible butterfly wings and touch responsive leaves: how nature has provided the future of advanced materials

摘要

The future of materials research has, to some extent, already been paved by our past; millions of years of evolution presents sophisticated, integrated materials exhibiting multifunctional behaviours. Biomimicry is a sustained field in chemistry which focuses on the development of synthetic materials capable of responding to stimuli in a controllable and predictable fashion from examples observed within the natural world around us. The ability to encompass the complexity of biological or natural materials presents significant but fascinating challenges. Bio-inspiration of metamaterials, which are materials where the observed behaviour results from the structure rather than composition, requires synthesis of structures on the nanoscale level to which external and internal stimuli will induce the sought after physiochemical response from minute but orchestrated changes at the molecular level. Biomimicry allows for the continual improvement and advancement in the performance of materials that could provide humanity with an expansion of smart technology. This article discusses a few recent advances in the bioinspired devices.