Harnessing microorganisms to synthesize bionic composites with ordered microstructures
Abstract
The objective of this project is to harness bacteria to synthesize bionic composites with ordered microstructures and exceptional me,chanical properties. The outcome of this project is a new paradigm of harnessing living microorganisms as a synthesis factory to gro,w high-performance hybrid synthetic-living composite materials that may find broad applications in ONR structures for crack resistan,ce, energy dissipation, and impact/shock/blast mitigation. Inspired by the natural growth of mineralized composites, we propose to,harness bacteria-assisted guided biomineralization within 3D-printed polymer structures to directly grow bionic composites with orde,red microstructures. We harness bacteria attached to 3D-polymer scaffolds to serve as nucleation sites, and bacteria-produced enzyme, to assist the mineralization of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that grows following the guidance of 3D-printed polymer scaffolds. The re,sulting mineral-polymer composites feature pre-designed ordered microstructures and exceptional mechanical properties, including ult,rahigh strength, fracture toughness, and energy dissipation capability. Integrating experiments, theory, and phase-field simulations,, we plan the following four tasks: (Task 1) experimental realization of bacteria-assisted growth of minerals within 3D-printed poly,mer scaffolds, (Task 2) theoretical and numerical understanding of the mechanism of bacteria-assisted mineral growth around 3D-print,ed polymer scaffolds, (Task 3) experimental realization of bacteria-assisted growth mineral-polymer composites with ordered microstr,uctures (such as Bouligand and brick-and-mortar structures), and (Task 4) exploration of bacteria-assisted growth of mineral-polymer, composites with hierarchical microstructures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 08, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212019
Entities
People
- Qiming Wang
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Southern California