Shell inspiration: turning nature’s secrets into engineering solutions

The properties of a material are strongly affected by its microscopic structure, a phenomenon that can often be seen in nature. This is clearly evident in the shells of molluscs such as mussels. These seashells exhibit magnificently diverse shapes, patterns and colours. In addition, they have a toughness similar to steel whilst being much lighter. These fascinating characteristics are the result of the way that shells are made from organised building blocks of calcium carbonate (the mineral found in chalk). In nature, the combination of these building blocks is exquisitely controlled throughout growth.

The ability to use nature's secrets learned from shell growth would be invaluable in manufacturing high performance materials with unprecedented properties. To realise this, we first need to learn how nature controls the formation and assembly of the building blocks of a shell - calcium carbonate. In this proposal, we will develop a new approach to enable an in-depth understanding of this natural controlling process, and then exploit the knowledge for producing novel material that are inspired by nature. At the core of our approach is the "Electronically Programmable Microfluidic Fountain Array" (EPMFA), a tool to create biomimetic conditions for the investigation. The EPMFA will enable us to control all of the aspects of organising building blocks (such as calcium carbonate), from features only visible with the best microscopes; through to the overall shape and size of the material that we are creating.

We will start off with a focus on a single example material, Mother-of-Pearl, and then exploit what we have learnt to create novel structures based on the same building blocks. This new material will be specifically designed so that it could be used as part of a medical implant, with properties that would greatly benefit bone reconstruction or joint replacement.

We envisage the knowledge gained will significantly enhance our abilities in creative manufacturing, and will benefit a very wide range of areas, from medicine to climate change. By using building blocks beyond calcium carbonate, our techniques will let us design and manufacture new materials with unique combinations of optical, magnetic, electronic, chemical and mechanical properties. The uses for these materials will be almost endless.

As with academic beneficiaries, industrial impact can be broken down into two time scales: immediate/short term, mid to long term. In the short term, we envisage considerable technology translation to companies with whom we have worked in the past (including Unilever, GSK, LGC, InVibio) activities. We anticipate these immediate benefits will be in the areas of tissue engineering and chemotherapy treatments, both serving the needs of a rapidly ageing population as well as improving health and well-being. For this, we plan to work together with our existing industrial collaborator (see above) and an extended network accessible via our academic collaborators. We will also identify other potential industrial stakeholders and medical clinicians within the UK through Nexxus (central Scotland's research, innovation and knowledge transfer network for life sciences) and relevant KTNs. Outside of the UK, our collaborator, Professor Chen is based in the West-China hospital, one of the largest hospitals in China. We will use this to extend our links and collaborations with healthcare sectors through evaluations and trials in China.

We envisage our long term industrial benificaries will be those engaged in the innovative manufacture of high value products requiring powerful fabrication methods for controlling the interface between dissimilar materials. These interfaces are often key in the performance of composites and hybrid devices associated with renewable energy, transducers or sensors (e.g photovoltaic cells, catalysts, thermoelectrics). We will work with GU's Research and Enterprise team, the various TSB delivery vehicles (e.g KTN, CRD, KTP's, etc) and present the work in commercially oriented sessions of high profile conferences. Importantly, through GU's now firmly established spin-out company, Kelvin Nanotechnology there is a route to making EPFMA demonstrator systems and small numbers of devices for companies to trial out. A more extensive manufacturing effort could be provided by SMEs working in the field of microfluidic systems (e.g. Syrrus Ltd and Epigem Ltd) with whom we work in TSB funded programs.

In year 2, we will look to exploit and make an impact with our IP by applying for funding for follow-on activities. Depending on whether these are commercial, basic, or applied research, appropriate sources of funding and expertise include First Step awards, KTPs and EPSRC KTA or other awards. We have already had success with all of these funding schemes in other projects.

The project will have direct impact on Knowledge transfer, training of young people and public awareness. This will be achieved by transferring our innovations from a research driven activity to a reliable 'manufacturing' phase (through technical staff and Kelvin Nanotechnology). This ensures continuity of know-how, benefiting our collaborations as well as future IP exploitation. The PGs and researchers in our collaborators' labs will benefit from early exposure to this multidisciplinary research, obtaining knowledge and skills in micro- and nanoscale experimental technologies. Research projects that use this platform will also be designed for MRes students associated with the cross-University Proteomics DTC.

Engineering inspired by nature, as well as novel materials with therapeutic applications holds the potential to generate considerable public interest through analogies with what takes place in the world around us. We will utilize this interest to raise public awareness (especially with school students) in Engineering and Science through the mainstream media and internet. To this end, GU's Media Relations Office is very good at generating press interest projects. We will also use our experience of the Nuffield Science Bursary scheme to offer projects to schools based on a simplified microfluidic platform to observe crystal growth.