Biomimetic multifunctional materials: a review

Inspired from nature, material scientists design and fabricate fascinating multifunctional composites for various applications. The profound insight on hierarchical micro/nanostructures or biological functions behind biomimetic properties and functions and their proper integration in a material for specific applications are crucial in developing biomimetic multifunctional composites. The current review discusses in detail the integration of potentially relevant biomimetic properties and/or functions such as self-cleaning with anti-reflection, self-cleaning with anti-corrosion, self-healing with self-cleaning, shape memory and wettability, super strong and tough, and self-healing with super tough. This review also outlines potential applications of such multifunctional composites in biomedical, oil-gas industry, aviation, marine, wearable electronics, fabrics, sensors, energy harvesting devices, and many more.