Biomaterials articles within Communications Materials

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neural circuitry is important for comprehending computational mechanisms and physiology of the brain but controlling neuronal connectivity and response in 3D is challenging. Here, titanium carbide MXene-coated 3D polycaprolactone scaffolds are demonstrated to effectively control neuronal interconnection.

    • Jianfeng Li
    • , Payam Hashemi
    •  & Joyce K. S. Poon

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Interest in protein-based fibers is driven by their unique properties, including biocompatibility and biodegradability. This Review summarizes the synthesis and properties of biomimetic protein fibers, such as keratin, collagen, elastin and silk fibers, and their application in energy, air and water treatment, and biomedical uses.

    • Tim Schiller
    •  & Thomas Scheibel

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    A key aspect of wearable devices used in personal health monitoring are the electrodes that make contact with the skin. This Review discusses how the materials and structure of electrodes used in these devices are vital to their performance, including how altering these factors might optimize their function.

    • Kyeonghee Lim
    • , Hunkyu Seo
    •  & Jang-Ung Park

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cyanobacteria convert light and energy into physical movement. Here, the effect of light intensity gradients on the motion of dense bacterial filaments is investigated, revealing self-assembly of 2D and 3D active nematic states, and changes in orientational and velocity order parameters.

    • Andrii Repula
    • , Colin Gates
    •  & Ivan I. Smalyukh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metallic surfaces are often coated with corrosion inhibitors to prevent damage but these are typically toxic to the environment. Here, a recombinant adhesive cement protein from barnacles is shown to effectively protect steel against corrosion under marine environment conditions.

    • My Hanh Bui
    • , Shu Hui Hiew
    •  & Ali Miserez

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    The design and manufacture of materials that replicate the form, function, and sustainability of biological solutions remains difficult. Here, key challenges and promising approaches to materials development informed by biology are identified.

    • Devi Stuart-Fox
    • , Leslie Ng
    •  & Wallace W. H. Wong

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Transmembrane signaling systems are present in living cells which receive cues from the environment and produce a cellular response. Here, recent advances in the design of bioinspired systems that mimic transmembrane signaling in synthetic and living cells are reviewed.

    • Ke Shi
    • , Chuwen Song
    •  & Yiyang Lin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Architected materials are known for high stiffness-to-weight behavior but bending-dominated lattices are of interest for their energy absorption performance. Here, an interwoven lattice with decoupled nodes shows significantly higher compliance at similar volume fractions to traditional lattices

    • Yash Mistry
    • , Oliver Weeger
    •  & Dhruv Bhate

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates are promising replacements for non-degradable plastics. Here, neural network property predictors are applied to a search space of approximately 1.4 million candidates, identifying 14 polyhydroxyalkanoates that could replace widely used petroleum-based plastics.

    • Christopher Kuenneth
    • , Jessica Lalonde
    •  & Ghanshyam Pilania

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling the dynamics of natural soft photonic systems is challenging due to difficulties in sourcing and stimulating them. Here, natural bovine tapetum is used to investigate soft biophotonic crystals and dynamically control their response, providing insight into the development of displays and dynamic light management.

    • Giulia Guidetti
    • , Chris Pirie
    •  & Fiorenzo G. Omenetto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Contact electrification can generate useable charge on a variety of surfaces. Here, surface charge creation when a single water droplet hits various plant leaves is investigated, including the effect of droplet characteristics and whether the plant leaf is hydrophilic or hydrophobic.

    • Serena Armiento
    • , Carlo Filippeschi
    •  & Barbara Mazzolai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Collagen is known to play a key role in the fracture resistance of bone. Here, in situ synchrotron tomography during the mechanical testing of bone is combined with deep learning to mitigate radiation damage, revealing that a compromised collagen network lowers the efficacy of crack deflection.

    • Michael Sieverts
    • , Yoshihiro Obata
    •  & Claire Acevedo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enzymes are effective at chemically converting low-value biomass to technological materials. Here, an ancestral lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase enzyme is used to synthesize chitin nanocrystals, which are used as a matrix for cell growth and to create conducting graphene oxide bioinks.

    • Leire Barandiaran
    • , Borja Alonso-Lerma
    •  & Raul Perez-Jimenez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteins can be patterned in photoresponsive hydrogels by the application of light. Here, a two-photon lithography-based approach allows for the 3D patterning of proteins with micrometer precision, demonstrated for a photoinstructive hydrogel and relevant to a range of proteins.

    • Heike Krüger
    • , Marvin Asido
    •  & Ralph Wieneke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Virus-like particles are promising for drug delivery systems and vaccine development, but controlling their size and morphology is challenging. Here, amino acid sequences are inserted into MS2 bacteriophage virus-like particles, with their size and shape being controlled by varying the insert used.

    • Artur P. Biela
    • , Antonina Naskalska
    •  & Jonathan G. Heddle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antibodies are widely used in biotechnology and bioengineering, but are sensitive to their environment. Here, primary antibodies are converted into thermally-stable protein liquids, achieving >60% antigen binding after cyclic heating at 125 °C and remain active when incorporated into plastics.

    • Joseph M. Slocik
    • , Patrick B. Dennis
    •  & Rajesh R. Naik

  • Perspective
    | Open Access

    There is growing interest in organic semiconductor devices for light-mediated neuromodulation, such as for retinal stimulation. Here, the key working principles of these devices are discussed, as well as promising applications and outstanding challenges for the field.

    • Danashi Imani Medagoda
    •  & Diego Ghezzi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Miniaturized systems for in situ plant applications are important to understand and preserve natural ecosystems. Here, the attachment of bioinspired microhooks to the surfaces of plant leaves is investigated, and on-leaf soft machines fabricated for monitoring conditions and for molecular delivery.

    • Isabella Fiorello
    • , Fabian Meder
    •  & Barbara Mazzolai

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Shape-shifting structures are important building blocks in the design of reconfigurable materials and devices with advanced functionalities. Here, versatile metamaterials with 3D-to-3D shape-shifting behavior upon thermal activation are fabricated by adapting a 3D printer to print on curved surfaces.

    • Teunis van Manen
    • , Shahram Janbaz
    •  & Amir A. Zadpoor

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of materials and coatings for antiviral surfaces. Here, a comprehensive review is performed for natural and synthetic antiviral and virucidal materials, including a discussion of their underpinning mechanisms.

    • Paulina D. Rakowska
    • , Mariavitalia Tiddia
    •  & Ian S. Gilmore

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposing spider silk to wet conditions can cause supercontraction. Here, tyrosine amino acid residues within the amorphous regions are found to contribute to supercontraction, which can be controlled by protein engineering.

    • Gabriele Greco
    • , Tina Arndt
    •  & Anna Rising

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Armored fish exoskeletons combine flexibility and protection from predators and territorial attacks. Here, using modeling, 3D printing, and experimental testing, the mechanical origin of anisotropic bending stiffness in fish scale architectures is revealed, providing design guidelines for biomimetics.

    • Katia Zolotovsky
    • , Swati Varshney
    •  & Christine Ortiz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological cilia are extremely effective for fluid flow, due to their beating motion creating metachronal waves. Here, metachronal waves are created in micro-robotic paddles that rotate in response to a magnetic field, creating fluid flow speeds of up to 16 μm/s.

    • Matthew T. Bryan
    • , Elizabeth L. Martin
    •  & Feodor Y. Ogrin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic bone graft materials are needed due to aging societies. Here, biodegradable and versatile recombinant collagen polypeptide scaffolds are engineered to induce bone regeneration in pre-clinical animal models.

    • Hideo Fushimi
    • , Takahiro Hiratsuka
    •  & Ichiro Nishimura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deep vein thrombosis is the clotting of blood in deep veins. Here, a microfluidic device containing flexible valves fabricated in-situ is used to investigate the effects of blood flow conditions and valve elasticity on thrombus formation, revealing the circumstance under which clotting occurs.

    • Zoe Schofield
    • , Hosam Alden Baksamawi
    •  & Daniele Vigolo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enzymes are effective at upgrading natural materials to high-performance biomaterials. Here, an ancestral endoglucanase is used to obtain highly crystalline cellulose nanocrystals, which can act as a matrix for cell growth and be combined with graphene for conducting inks.

    • Borja Alonso-Lerma
    • , Leire Barandiaran
    •  & Raul Perez-Jimenez

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bovine serum albumin proteins are used to fabricate antifouling coatings, but it is unclear which of these give the best coatings. Here, bovine serum albumin proteins from different purification processes are investigated, revealing that fatty acid-free proteins give superior antifouling properties.

    • Gamaliel Junren Ma
    • , Abdul Rahim Ferhan
    •  & Nam-Joon Cho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The applicability of protein fibrils as functional biomaterials is limited due to low scalability of production process, slow kinetics, and requirement of expensive purified proteins. Here, instantaneous production of protein fibrils from egg white proteome using cholinium tosylate as a fibrillation agent is shown, with the obtained fibrils displaying enhanced mechanical stiffness and cytocompatibility.

    • Pankaj Bharmoria
    • , Dibyendu Mondal
    •  & Mara G. Freire

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organic materials are attractive for photovoltaic interfaces in bioelectronics, but are limited by adhesion in aqueous environments and responsiveness in the visible spectrum. Here, an organic interface is reported for neuronal stimulation in the near-infrared and tested on explanted mice retinas.

    • Marta Jole Ildelfonsa Airaghi Leccardi
    • , Naïg Aurelia Ludmilla Chenais
    •  & Diego Ghezzi

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