ACIN · ADVANCED COMPOSITES INSPIRED BY NATURE

One of the major challenges faced by materials science is the development of new stronger and tougher lightweight structural materials to support advances in strategic fields as diverse as building, transportation, energy or healthcare. Current materials available are reaching their performance limits. In the search for inspiration to create new ceramic materials that will break current performance barriers, scientists and engineers have looked at the remarkable properties and structure of natural composites. However, we still do not have a clear idea of what role bio-inspiration should play in the development of new synthetic materials. We strongly believe that this important question must be addressed through the combination of new processing techniques able to achieve, in practical dimensions, complex structural hierarchies with a deep understanding of the relationships between structure and mechanical response, encompassing the influence of structural parameters acting at multiple length scales. This project will demonstrate that by combining two novel processing techniques (freeze casting and Spark Plasma Sintering, SPS) it will be possible to fabricate bio-inspired ceramic-based composites that replicate the toughening mechanisms observed in natural materials and, as a consequence, exhibit unprecedented combinations of mechanical properties.""