Structural Biological Materials

Book excerpt: The ongoing process of bio-evolution has produced materials which are perfectly adapted to fulfil a specific functional role. The natural world provides us with a multitude of examples of materials with durability, strength, mechanisms of programmed self-assembly and biodegradability. The materials industry has sought to observe and appreciate the relationship between structure, properties and function of these biological materials. A multidisciplinary approach, building on recent advances at the forefront of physics, chemistry and molecular biology, has been successful in producing many synthetic structures with interesting and useful properties. Structural Biological Materials: Design and Structure-Property Relationships represents an invaluable reference in the field of biological materials science and provides an incisive view into this rapidly developing and increasingly important topic within materials science.This book focuses on the study of three sub-groups of structural biological materials:• Hard tissue engineering, focussing on cortical bone • Soft tissue engineering • Fibrous materials, particularly engineering with silk fibers.The fundamental relationship between structure and properties, and certain aspects of design and engineering, are explored in each of the sub-groups. The importance of these materials, both in their intrinsic properties and specific functions, are illustrated with relevant examples. These depict the successful integration of material properties, architecture and shape, providing a wide range of optimised designs, tailored to specific functions.Edited by Manuel Elices of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain, this book is Volume 4 in the Pergamon Material Series.