What are bionanocomposites?

Natural nanocomposite can be characterized as bionanocomposites. Natural bionanocomposites combine a high resilience and tolerance toward failure, adaptation, modularity, and multifunctionality. They are originally designed and optimized for the needs of life and to meet the surrounding environmental conditions in order to guarantee the survival of the respective species they are associated with. Structures and properties of biological polymers have been studied by biologists mainly to understand their essential roles in biological systems. However, the potential applications of biological molecules in the design of bionanocomposites require to consider them as synthetic "building blocks" that may eventually be used in a context distant from their natural environment or function. Natural materials are dynamic in terms of structure and composition. These basic principles are related to two fundamental biological processes termed ontogenesis and morphogenesis. Both processes might lead to advanced materials with unforeseen properties and open new horizons for high-level applications.