ABSTRACT

Biologicalnanomaterialsdifferfromtheothermaterialsdiscussedinthisbook inthattheirpropertieshavebeenrefinedbyevolutionaryprocessesoveravery longtimescale.Thisleadstoahighlevelofoptimizationcomparedwith manysyntheticmaterials.Ourunderstandingofthebiologicalnanomaterials canbeusedasaguidetotheproductionofsyntheticmaterialswithsimilar characteristics.Thisformspartoftheapproachknownasbiomimicking,which isaverywidelyapplicableconcept.