Bioinspired Materials
By Rohit Pratyush Behera, Hortense Le Ferrand, Slocha Sapasakulvanit
Engineers are turning to biology for new ideas on developing high-performance composites that are more environmentally sustainable.
This Article From Issue
May-June 2025
Volume 113, Number 3
Page 162
While you sit in your assigned seat casually scrolling on your phone or taking a short nap, an airplane’s engines are enduring some wild conditions. Inside the engine, where the jet fuel burns, temperatures typically reach 1,400 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, at cruising altitudes, the outside air temperature can drop to −60 degrees. Despite these extremes, the turbine blades keep spinning at many thousands of revolutions per minute, for hours at a time, enabled by resilient advanced materials. The blades are often made of nickel-based superalloys, which are coated with several layers of a thermal barrier to reduce temperature variations in the metal, preventing material fatigue and cracking.
QUICK TAKE
- High-performance metals and alloys used in aerospace and other high-tech industries have large environmental footprints, leading materials scientists to search for alternatives.
- Materials inspired by those found in nature, such as shells and trees, could be lighterweight, more sustainable alternatives to traditional metals and alloys.
- By studying how living organisms develop materials and structures, researchers are developing new ways to make synthetic composites with unique abilities.
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