Merger of Structure and Material for Materials by Design: Comparative Bottom-up Analysis and Manufacturing of Hierarchical Materials
Abstract
Natural protein biomaterials are superior to engineered materials in the remarkable material properties they possess (e.g. self-healing) and in their ability to combine multiple material properties such as strength, robustness, adaptability, and mutability within a single material. The hierarchical structure of protein constituents as well as the seamless integration of material and structure, from nano to macro, provide protein biomaterials with their functional properties. Learning from protein biomaterials and using the recipe to design new materials with complex hierarchical structures provides opportunities to create innovative materials with advanced functions. This proposed project focuses on the design, synthesis, and bulk manufacturing, with controllable microstructures, of synthetic protein (and other polymer) composite materials with advanced mechanical and multifunctionalities inspired by natural counterparts. The effort is an extension of the Principal Investigator~s previous ONR Young Investigator project (N000140810844) and Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers project (N00014-10-1-0562) in which he characterized the structure-mechanics relationship of distinct classes of protein materials, which have significantly different functional properties. He will integrate that knowledge and formulate rigorous methods to design and manufacture new synthetic materials with similar or superior material functionalities than their natural counterparts. The effort will involve computational modeling, experimental characterization, microbiological synthesis, and additive manufacturing. The specific aims include: (1) Extending the capabilities of a software package, called Matriarch for ~Materials Architecture~ that the Principal Investigator is developing for designing hierarchical protein materials; (2) Synthesizing strong and tough biological (i.e. protein) materials for engineering applications using computational designs; (3) Realizing the application of additive manufacturing based on the 3D-printing technique to achieve fully scale-integrated multifunctional materials; and (4) Realizing the addition of graphene into protein material innovation s in order to make composites of improved material mechanics and multifunctional characteristics. This research is expected to provide a computational program that helps to examine the structure-function relationships of any protein material as well as the mathematics to categorize the comparative studies and learn the essential connections between protein sequence and material function, which will provide the theoretical basis that allows the creation of protein materials by design. The protein synthesis and 3D printing of microstructures are expected to provide the knowledge and technique to carry out the computational designs and create new materials from the most fundamental scale level and up. Investigation of other mineral and graphene materials will allow expansion of the design space and a better understanding of how biological composites are synergistically integrated at different hierarchical scale levels and of tunable material functions that allow materials of programmable functions in application.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612333
Entities
People
- Markus J. Buehler
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy