Future Materials could be Alive
Today I want to talk to you about a branch of materials that you may not know and that has been developing for years: living materials. They are part of the biomaterials branch, but we are not talking about compostable plastic bags or clothes made of recycled plastic, but about materials that have been created by joining the branches of genetics and materials. So that they are alive… is anything but clickbait.
During my master’s degree I was able to learn about this topic and it changed my way of looking at materials.
Imagine that the polluted air of a metallurgical industry could pass through a filter that integrates moss, whose structure has been perfected for millions of years to trap polluting particles in the air and is able to synthesize such pollution more efficiently than any current filter.
Currently, there are several centers and researchers working on concrete and other ceramic materials capable of attracting the appearance of moss on its surface without damaging its structural integrity. The ultimate goal is to create vertical gardens in cities that require little maintenance and not only clean CO2 and other heavy metals from the atmosphere, but also serve as thermal insulators, thus saving building’s energy consumption.
Almost from the origin of mankind, humans have been drawing inspiration from nature for centuries to create objects that perform their function more efficiently. This is known as biomimicry. Once, the geometry of the beak of a bird called the kingfisher was used as inspiration for the nose of the Japanese “Shinkansen” bullet train. And this makes a lot of sense, because natural selection has been iterating designs for millions of years to figure out which one does one function better than the other.
What is a paradigm shift is what these new materials are proposing, because now they are alive. It is no longer just about using nature as inspiration, but as a means to obtain materials with properties of the “living”. Materials capable of reacting to changes in their environment, of regenerating themselves, of biofiltering pollutants, of photosynthesizing and much more.
Let’s take another example, one that employed the union of microalgae and ceramics. The Indus project, by architect and designer Shneel Malik, proposes the integration of algae into a bioreceptive hydrogel (a bioreceptive material is the one that offers optimal living conditions for the development of a given organism), which is then deposited in the grooves of ceramic pieces. This algae has the property of filtering water from contaminants that can be found in the textile industry, so by depositing this bio-hydrogel on a surface over which this contaminated water passed, the project managed to create a system capable of filtering water passively (i.e. without the need for energy). The project is intended to be used in regions with few resources so that their inhabitants can filter their water without the need for more complex and expensive systems. The only variable cost of this system would be the replacement of the hydrogel when it has reached its pollution saturation limit.
Living materials are still under development and need to mature before they become functional materials and products that we can see in our daily lives. Also, they may even raise some occasional moral debate. However, they open a window to a society that is much more connected to nature and to cities that integrate plant organisms instead of boxing them in what we call “parks”.
Our ecosystem has always been self-regulating, but with increasing pollution of the atmosphere, oceans and land, this capacity has been overwhelmed. It is possible that, in addition to decreasing pollution, these materials would allow us to enhance the power of these organisms and offer solutions that are not only sustainable, but regenerative for the planet.
References
[1] Bio-ID Lab designs DIY algae-infused tiles that can extract toxic dyes from water
