Matrix-Directed Mineralization for Bulk Structural Materials

Abstract

Mineral-based bulk structural materials (MBSMs) are known for their long history and extensive range of usage. The inherent brittleness of minerals poses a major problem to the performance of MBSMs. To overcome this problem, design principles have been extracted from natural biominerals, in which the extraordinary mechanical performance is achieved via the hierarchical organization of minerals and organics. Nevertheless, precise and efficient fabrication of MBSMs with bioinspired hierarchical structures under mild conditions has long been a big challenge. This Perspective provides a panoramic view of an emerging fabrication strategy, matrix-directed mineralization, which imitates the in vivo growth of some biominerals. The advantages of the strategy are revealed by comparatively analyzing the conventional fabrication techniques of artificial hierarchically structured MBSMs and the biomineral growth processes. By introducing recent advances, we demonstrate that this strategy can be used to fabricate artificial MBSMs with hierarchical structures. Particular attention is paid to the mass transport and the precursors that are involved in the mineralization process. We hope this Perspective can provide some inspiring viewpoints on the importance of biomimetic mineralization in material fabrication and thereby spur the biomimetic fabrication of high-performance MBSMs.

Biomimetic Mineralization: From Microscopic to Macroscopic Materials and Their Biomedical Applications

“…In detail, mollusks first produce multiple layers of an insoluble β-chitin matrix filled with silk fibroin gel . Then, aragonite mineralization is guided by the highly conserved acidic proteins or via oriented attachment with the aragonite crystal underneath the chitin layer through so-called mineral bridges. ,, Although the “brick-and-mortar” structure of the nacre is a relatively simple natural structure, there has not been any synthetic material that could fully replicate the hierarchical structure of natural nacre until now . In 2016, Yu’s group achieved bulk synthetic nacre using a mesoscale “assembly-and-mineralization” approach that highly resembles both the chemical composition and the hierarchical structure of natural nacre (Figure a) .…”

“…Enzyme-induced mineralization provides an effective and facile method of constructing homogeneous mineralized hydrogels . Tiller’s group presented a series of hydrogels with entrapped urease that cleaves urea to form carbonate and generates carbonate crystals in situ within the hydrogel matrix .…”

“…117,120,121 Although the "brick-andmortar" structure of the nacre is a relatively simple natural structure, there has not been any synthetic material that could fully replicate the hierarchical structure of natural nacre until now. 117 In 2016, Yu's group achieved bulk synthetic nacre using a mesoscale "assembly-and-mineralization" approach that highly resembles both the chemical composition and the hierarchical structure of natural nacre (Figure 6a). 122 Notably, the synthetic nacre exhibited outstanding ultimate strength and fracture toughness due to its precisely predesigned hierarchical nanostructure and microstructure.…”

Organized mineralized cellulose nanostructures for biomedical applications

“…The biomimetic hierarchical architectures are the key path towards the optimal expression of minerals and cellulose properties, and beyond functionalities owing to their synergistic toughening mechanisms. However, existing reviews rarely systematically discuss the related design and fabrication principles based on organized mineralized cellulose structures, 28,29,30 thus this review has been written to address this issue. We summarized the chemistry and nanostructure characteristics of cellulose at multi-length scale and discussed how these favorable characteristics regulate the bio-inspired mineralization process for manufacturing desired highly ordered nanostructured biocomposites at multiple dimensions.…”

Bamboo nodes show nature's wisdom

“…The structural hierarchy of fibrous vascular bundles further enriches the connotation of the proposed structural reinforcement schemes. These multi-scale reinforcement schemes are exactly what is needed for engineering structural materials now [ 1 , 8 ]. Interestingly, besides the characteristic fibrous hierarchy, vascular bundles also have multi-scale channels for water and nutrient transport.…”