ABSTRACT
Biological material science and engineering includes natural materials, biomaterials (synthetics materials used in bioenvironments), and biomimetic or bioinspired materials, devices, and structures (Meyers et al., 2008). One of the main driving forces of biological material science and engineering is synthesized in Arzt’s (2006) pentahedron paradigm, which encompasses low-temperature or low-pressure material synthesis in aqueous phases, hierarchical multiscale structures, formation through self-assembly (including directed, equilibrium, and dynamic), optimized multifunctionality (heat and mass transfer, optics, and mechanics), and evolution. Arzt’s pentahedron paradigm has provided a unifying tool to characterize natural materials. This chapter applies this paradigm to plant-based materials, emphasizing the multiscale nature found in going from the molecular scale of cellulose nano„brils to the micron scale of plywood helicoids found in the plant cell wall, up to the centimeter scale of plant organs. Figure 4.1 shows the evolution of these length scales in plant-based materials and the relevant disciplines at each scale.
