Bioinspired Biomaterials with Advanced Performance

Inspired by nature’s ingenious solutions, the field of bioinspired (bionic) materials seeks to emulate and surpass biological systems to create advanced biomaterials designed to interact with biological environments and perform specific functions. This research area has yielded remarkable innovations such as superwetting smart materials, which replicate the extreme liquid-repellency or attraction found in lotus leaves and spider silk for applications in self-cleaning, filtration, microfluidics, and biomedical fluid handling at biointerfaces, especially for physiologically relevant liquids and biofluids such as blood, serum, and cell culture media, and for anti-fouling/anti-biofilm or hemocompatible interfaces where applicable. Meanwhile, morphing structures draw inspiration from pine cones and bird wings to enable adaptive, shape-changing functionalities in response to environmental stimuli like humidity or temperature, with growing relevance to dynamic biomedical interfaces and tissue-contacting devices. At the core of these advancements lies bionic design, a methodology that translates biological principles into engineering blueprints. The ultimate goal is the integration of these capabilities to engineer multifunctional materials that synergistically combine properties like self-healing, sensing, and actuation, thereby opening new frontiers in biomedical devices, tissue engineering, and sustainable material solutions.

The goal is to catalyze the development of a new generation of engineered life-like biomaterials. We anticipate that this collective effort will yield foundational knowledge and prototype systems where superwetting, shape-morphing, self-regulation, and other functions are intrinsically linked, alongside clear structure–property–function relationships in biologically relevant conditions (in vitro, ex vivo, or in vivo). Particular attention is encouraged for biocompatibility, immunological response, and toxicity considerations that enable reliable translation (e.g., where relevant: protein adsorption, cytocompatibility, hemocompatibility/thrombogenicity, antibacterial/anti-biofilm performance, and/or inflammatory response indicators in biologically relevant media).

This Research Topic invites original research and review articles that advance the fundamental understanding and practical realization of integrated bioinspired biomaterial systems. We seek contributions specifically focused on the synergistic design of multifunctional biomaterials, encompassing themes such as:
1. dynamic superwetting surfaces for intelligent manipulation of physiologically relevant liquids and biofluids;
2. bio-inspired architectures for programmable shape morphing and actuation in tissue-contacting or implant-adjacent environments;
3. novel composites or metamaterials that couple multiple bio-inspired properties (e.g., self-healing, sensing, adaptability) with biomaterial preparation, characterization, and biointerface functionalization; and
4. scalable fabrication techniques and reproducible evaluation workflows for such complex systems under biologically relevant testing conditions where applicable.
Manuscripts should emphasize the integration of at least two distinct bionic functions or explore novel design principles that enable such multifunctionality, and where relevant include standardized assessment in biologically relevant models. We welcome high-quality submissions including Original Research, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, and Perspectives that bridge materials science, chemistry, engineering, and biology to address the challenges of creating next-generation, life-like intelligent biomaterials.