Functional Polymeric Materials Inspired by Geckos, Mussels, and Spider Silk

Nature has developed elegant and economical strategies to produce materials that are well-adapted to their purposes. As biology evolved to remarkable and complex designs, synthetic mimics are evolving toward new levels of complexity achieving larger combinations of properties within one material. The field of bioinspiration encompasses a wide range of advanced materials ranging from biooptics to energy materials, to biomaterials. In this paper an overview is given of selected recent developments in the field of bioinspired material design focusing on gecko-inspired adhesives, mussel-inspired coatings, and spider silk-inspired biomaterials.