Open AccessBiological matrix composites from cultured plant cells
Author(s) -
Eleftheria Roumeli,
Rodinde Hendrickx,
Luca Bonanomi,
Aniruddh Vashisth,
Katherine Z. Rinaldi,
Chiara Daraio
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2119523119
Subject(s) - materials science , composite material , composite number , matrix (chemical analysis) , cell wall , adhesion , lamellar structure , nanotechnology , chemistry , biochemistry
Significance The development of novel degradable biocomposites can contribute to answering the increasing global demand for sustainable materials. We present a method to obtain self-bonded biocomposite materials from cultured plant cells. Subjecting cells to a cold-compression molding process creates hierarchical biocomposites that have stiffness and strength comparable to commodity plastics, while being 100% biodegradable in soil. Introducing fillers expands the attainable functionalities, demonstrating the versatility of the proposed platform. The use of fast-growing plant cells offers the benefits of short harvest time, zero biomass waste during processing, in situ manufacturing, and no arable land requirement. The approach allows the possibility of further tuning the final material properties by genetically engineering the processed cells.