Biological and Biomimetic Materials and Mechanics (BioMnM) Lab

Mechanistic Reinforcement of Fungal Materials

Mushroom-forming fungi grow as an intricate and dynamic fiber network of thread-like cells (hyphae). This filamentous growth can be engineered to develop innovative biopolymeric materials with attractive material properties. To fully realize the potential of fungi-based sustainable materials, their mechanical properties must be improved. In addition, fundamental materials science principles to control their microstructure are also essential. In this project, we are exploring novel fungal composite manufacturing strategies to develop advanced fungal materials with enhanced stiffness and strength. We are also investigating mechanistic strategies to control fungal growth and emergent materials properties.

Design of Lattice Structure-based Composites

Traditional polymer composites consist of an isolated assembly of reinforcing fibers embedded in a continuous matrix. While such composites exhibit high specific stiffness and strength in tension, they are limited in compressive strength. One innovative approach to improve the compression stability of composites would be to incorporate a network-based reinforcement phase that supports the applied load as an interconnected structure. In this project, we are exploring the compression mechanics of composite materials with 3D-printed lattce network-based reinforcement phase.

Development of Tissue-mimetic Hydrogel Biomaterials

Load-bearing tissues exhibit remarkable mechanical properties including nonlinear elasticity, large fracture toughness, and excellent load-relaxation ability. They are also highly porous materials with large water content to accommodate cells and support cellular processes. Mimicking such combination of mechanical and structural properties in hydrogels is important for their applications as biomaterials but remains challenging. In this project, we are developing composite hydrogel biomaterials so as to achive tissue-like mechanics and structure for biomedical applications.

Mechanics of Composite Nanofiber Networks

Polymeric nanofiber mats have potential in multidisciplinary applications such as packaging, filtration, and biomedical scaffolds due to their high surface area and tunable properties. The practical use of such materials requires control over their mechanical properties, especially strength and toughness. However, it is challenging to design nanofiber mats with targeted strength or toughness due to our limited understanding of their nonlinear mechanics and failure mechanisms. This research explores the emergent mechanics and failure behavior of a composite nanofiber mats using an integrated experimental, computational, and data-driven mechanics framework.

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