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Content archived on 2024-06-18

ADVANCED COMPOSITES INSPIRED BY NATURE

Objective

"One of the major challenges faced by materials science is the development of new stronger and tougher lightweight structural materials to support advances in strategic fields as diverse as building, transportation, energy or healthcare. Current materials available are reaching their performance limits. In the search for inspiration to create new ceramic materials that will break current performance barriers, scientists and engineers have looked at the remarkable properties and structure of natural composites. However, we still do not have a clear idea of what role bio-inspiration should play in the development of new synthetic materials. We strongly believe that this important question must be addressed through the combination of new processing techniques able to achieve, in practical dimensions, complex structural hierarchies with a deep understanding of the relationships between structure and mechanical response, encompassing the influence of structural parameters acting at multiple length scales. This project will demonstrate that by combining two novel processing techniques (freeze casting and Spark Plasma Sintering, SPS) it will be possible to fabricate bio-inspired ceramic-based composites that replicate the toughening mechanisms observed in natural materials and, as a consequence, exhibit unprecedented combinations of mechanical properties."

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator

IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
EU contribution
€ 209 033,40
Address
SOUTH KENSINGTON CAMPUS EXHIBITION ROAD
SW7 2AZ London
United Kingdom
Region
London Inner London — West Westminster
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data