Taking Inspiration from Nature: Construction Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Plants, animals and microorganisms have undergone 3.8 billion years of evolution. To meet their physiological needs and hence to survive, they have incorporated various strategies to adapt to environmental conditions. Living systems can reorganise their structures, modify their properties, sense, grow, heal, react, and adjust dynamically to reduce the impact of environmental stressors. At a larger scale, organisms and their environments interact with each other as ecosystems.  Natural ecosystems are “balanced” and consist of producers, consumers, decomposers, and dead and inorganic matter.

Finding inspiration in nature both at organismal and ecosystem levels has been the underpinning idea behind the development of many construction materials. Depending on the mechanisms, functions, or properties of the living systems under examination, different types of building materials have been developed. The use of such nature-inspired materials has proved to have multidimensional benefits in fulfilling building functional requirements and performance improvements as bio-inspired innovative materials are environmentally friendly, innovative, and smart.

In nature, one organism’s waste becomes a source of material for other organisms. This has inspired how waste could be reduced and integrated back into the life cycle of construction materials. The ways in which living systems in their ecosystems reduce, reuse, and recycle resources has inspired the development of sustainable construction materials. In addition, the direct use of natural fibres added to the material fabric has achieved sustainable qualities and enabled the acceleration of the shift towards a circular economy. That said, in this Special Issue of Biomimetics, we are also looking for articles reporting on how familiar construction materials have drawn on natural processes, or how the examination of specific natural processes could lead to the development of new materials.

This Special Issue aims to disseminate current knowledge on nature-inspired construction materials. We are interested in articles that detail how biological functions, mechanisms, and natural processes have been imitated or used to develop construction materials that enhance building performance or reduce construction waste. We also welcome papers that use the life-cycle analysis methodology to evaluate the energy requirements, environmental impacts, and life-cycle costs of nature-inspired building materials.

Dr. Negin Imani
Prof. Dr. Brenda Vale
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• bio-inspired materials
• nature-inspired materials
• smart materials
• ecomaterials
• sustainable materials
• biodegradable, degradable, and recyclable materials
• biomimetic materials
• environmental performance of construction materials
• mechanical performance of construction materials
• environmental performance assessment
• life-cycle assessment
• bioinspired materials for acoustic insulation
• bioinspired materials for thermal insulation
• bioinspired materials with waterproofing/harvesting mechanisms