Sameoto Dan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, T6G 1H9, Canada.
Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2024 Aug 5;15:965-976. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.15.79. eCollection 2024.
In this perspective article, Professor Dan Sameoto outlines his opinion on future opportunities in the field of biomimetic adhesives. Despite over twenty years of excellent academic work by groups all around the world in this subfield, the economic value and impact of these materials is somewhat underwhelming. The question for the field is whether it should have a scientific and engineering focus to create every greater performance and understanding of the materials and hope that "if we build it, they will come". Perhaps we should expand our concept on what could be the desirable end applications for such materials and focus efforts on finding better end applications in which these materials can truly shine; a few of those applications like microfluidics and composites are highlighted in this article. It is time for a next generation of research to look beyond biomimicry and look towards re-engineering applications to make use of these materials' unique properties in economically viable ways.
在这篇观点文章中，丹·萨梅奥托教授概述了他对仿生粘合剂领域未来机遇的看法。尽管全球各团队在这个子领域进行了二十多年的卓越学术研究，但这些材料的经济价值和影响力仍略显不足。该领域面临的问题是，是应专注于科学和工程，以创造性能更优、理解更深入的材料，并寄希望于“我们创造了，他们就会来”。或许我们应该拓宽对这类材料理想终端应用的概念，并集中精力寻找能让这些材料真正大放异彩的更好终端应用；本文重点介绍了其中一些应用，如微流体和复合材料。现在是时候让下一代研究超越仿生学，转向重新设计应用，以便以经济可行的方式利用这些材料的独特性能。
