Biomime - learning from nature

Could the fledgling field of biomimetics provide the know-how for the next generation of high-tech materials? Vincent Bulone, Professor of Plant Glycobiology and Director of the Biomime™ centre at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, says when it comes to developing innovative products, Mother Nature is an inspirational teacher..

“Nature is an engineer far superior to humans in the design of performance structures and materials,” says Professor Bulone. “After all, it’s had several billion years longer to practice!” Since 2009, he has been the full-time director of Biomime™, the Swedish centre for Biomimetic Fibre Engineering.

Biomimetics, the science of designing systems, materials and technologies that mimic biological processes, has already inspired the development of biofuels and modified crops. But the application of it in the field of advanced materials is something recent.

The practice of such pioneering research combines a wide range of fields, from biology, genomics and chemistry to biophysics, nano-technology and composite design, requiring a carefully structured, multi-disciplinary approach.

“Biomime™ was set up from scratch in 2006 with scientists from different disciplines who had never worked together before,” says Professor Bulone. “So first we had to learn each other’s scientific ‘language’ and then learn how to collaborate effectively. That takes a lot of hard work and communication but five years on we have a very efficient, multi-disciplinary team.”

The centre aims to gain a detailed understanding of the assembly, structure and properties of microbial carbohydrates and the complex cell walls of wood fibres, along with some plants, fungi, and bacteria, and use this as inspiration for advanced material design (and ultimately for plant modification to enhance source materials during growth, too) across a range of industries.

“We’re trying to understand three key processes with this project,” says Professor Bulone. “Firstly, the enzymes responsible for the chemical reactions that form cellulose [the primary structural component of the cell walls of green plants and algae, also secreted by some bacteria] – how do polymers react and assemble naturally in this process? Secondly we need to know more about metabolic engineering so we can begin to manipulate the cellulose and other cell wall carbohydrates; and thirdly we need, in the long term, to gain more knowledge of the function of genes in the process, so we can enhance the plants at the growth stage.”

To do so, researchers employ post-extraction modification methods, isolating carbohydrate-active enzymes from microorganisms and plants, for example, then manipulating them to modify in a test tube cellulose and other polymers, and studying the results. And it has been the properties of cellulose that have really caught the eye.

“Cellulose is an amazing natural material,” says Professor Bulone. “By isolating the crystalline structures within it, we can freeze dry those structures and produce something that is super-light (as they are 70% air) and/or super-insulative (again, due to the high air content). Modifications of cellulose allow the developments of adhesives, water repellant, antibacterial, stimuli responsive surfaces, and structures stronger than steel. The potential this has for a huge range of advanced materials is very exciting.”

Nature has been thoughtful enough to ensure an abundant supply of such a versatile material, too – cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth, with familiar resources such as cotton and wood, for instance, having 90% and 40% cellulose content respectively.

Aside from its excellent properties, cellulose as a material has excellent environmental credentials. “It fosters fully sustainable products throughout the entire life cycle,” says Professor Bulone. “They are grown naturally, processed by natural energy via plant enzymes, and are fully biodegradable or recyclable at the end of their life as compost to grow new plants, for example. This really is the ultimate eco-product.”

The combination of performance, sustainability and abundance make such materials an extremely attractive proposition for a wide range of industries. “We’re talking anything from high performance textiles, to biomedical products and structural bio-composites for the building, automotive and aerospace industries,” says Professor Bulone. “The more we discover about this resource, the longer the list of potential applications – the possibilities seem endless.”

There is a strong economic argument for the Biomime™ programme too. With the escalating cost and scarcity of finite resources like petrochemicals, many industries are looking for alternative materials, new products and low-energy manufacturing processes to remain competitive. None more so than the forestry industry, where traditional wood-processing superpowers such as Sweden and Canada are seeing their hegemony challenged by South America, China and Russia, which enjoy lower production costs and faster-growing varieties of trees.

“The forestry industry in the West is well established, with the same countries dominating the market with the same traditional products,” says Professor Bulone. “It’s therefore a conservative industry. So understandably when we talk to them about producing advanced wood-fibre materials, like the ones we’re researching at Biomime™, or genetically improving the fibre and wood quality of trees during growth, it seems like science fiction to them. But unless the industry takes these ideas on board, it won’t survive in the long term – there’s simply too much competition within forestry now.”

Alongside the research, Professor Bulone is lobbying hard to ensure the continuation of the centre’s research when the current programme ends in 2012. “We will have a new funding agency then which may well wish to change the focus of the research we do here,” he says ruefully. “That would inevitably jeopardise all the research we have done and the progress it would bring in the future. And because these products are some way off commercial use yet, we need to work hard to convince politicians, sponsors, industry and consumers to support a long-term approach to biomimetics, not a short-term gain.”

And that support is gaining momentum. For all its past reticence, there are encouraging signs that the forestry industry, among other sectors of the Swedish economy, is starting to embrace change. “I met the head of Research and Development at a leading Swedish forestry company recently,” says Professor Bulone. “After I explained our research, he asked ‘how can I join Biomime™?’”

“Similarly,’ he continues, “I’ve had a very influential player in the supermarket supply chain come to look at our biodegradable packaging materials, and a local politician who blogged very enthusiastically about her visit to the Biomime™ centre.

So I’m very optimistic for the future – people are beginning to understand the potential this research has to make a huge difference to all our lives.”

Click here to access the project website.

Published: Friday, 30th September 2011