Materials inspired by nature

The assembly strategies developed in our fundamental studies on colloids and soft matter are applied to create bio-inspired materials that replicate design principles of natural materials like bone, teeth, plants and mollusc shells. Design principles of interest include the controlled orientation of anisotropic particles, the organization of building blocks across multiple length scales and the generation of physically interlocking interfaces. To fabricate functional complex materials with new, unusual properties, we are currently exploiting different additive manufacturing platforms that enable voxel-based control of local composition, structure and properties.