Bioinspired materials articles from across Nature Portfolio

Ice formation on grooved surfaces is ubiquitous, but controlling orientation is difficult due to lack of mechanistic insight. Here, the authors observed oriented growth using graphene oxide nanosheets as probes, revealing the effect of groove size, and programmed ice growth to fabricate freeze-cast metamaterials.

The oral delivery of nano-drug delivery systems (Nano-DDS) remains challenging. Here the authors construct core–shell mesoporous silica nanoparticles with virus-like nanospikes and demonstrate the versatility of these nanoparticles as Nano-DDS to achieve efficient oral drug delivery by mimicking structural feature, chiral recognition, and gene encapsulation of viruses.

Drawing inspiration from helical structures in nature, researchers have developed a cobalt-based complex able to twist and untwist, converting between nanohelix and nanowire structures.

A safe, inhalable formulation of mucin-interacting hydrogel microparticles creates a dense protective network in the lungs against viral infections.

Supramolecular assemblies of peptides with differing morphologies and properties are formed by varying the synthetic route to the fibrous assemblies.

Complexity is a hallmark of biological systems, but scientific experiments are typically conducted in simplified conditions. Now, diverse polymers that mimic the local environments of complex biological mixtures have been shown to improve protein folding, stability and function.

Progress in biomimetics allows for the fabrication of man-made materials and surfaces with properties similar to biological ones. These advancements enable the development of a new generation of building materials for architecture that have remarkable properties typically unachievable with a traditional approach.

A bioengineered model incorporating a synthetic extracellular matrix recapitulates the lymphoid tumour microenvironment, making it a valuable tool for drug testing and designing personalized therapies.