Plant Cell Wall-Like Soft Materials: Micro- and Nanoengineering, Properties, and Applications

Area of Science:

• Soft Materials Science
• Biomimetic Engineering
• Polymer Composites

Background:

• Plant cell walls (CWs) are complex composites providing structural integrity and mechanical support.
• Artificial CWs, or CW-like materials, are engineered to replicate the composition, structure, and mechanics of native plant CWs.
• These biomimetic materials are crucial for understanding plant CW structure-property relationships and developing novel functional materials.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing research on plant CWs and CW-like materials.
• To distill key studies on biomimetic composites primarily composed of plant polysaccharides (cellulose, pectin, hemicellulose) and polymers (lignin).
• To provide an overview of micro-/nanofabrication techniques, characterization methods, in silico studies, and applications of these materials.

Main Methods:

• Review of literature focusing on biomimetic composites mimicking plant cell walls.
• Analysis of micro- and nanofabrication approaches including bacterial growth, layer-by-layer assembly, film casting, templating, and particle coating.
• Examination of characterization techniques for mechanical, chemical, morphological, and structural analyses.

Main Results:

• CW-like materials are fabricated using diverse micro-/nanofabrication techniques.
• Comprehensive characterization is essential for understanding material properties.
• These materials exhibit versatility across applications such as biomass conversion, pulp and paper, food science, construction, catalysis, and reaction engineering.

Conclusions:

• This review facilitates the rational design and characterization of plant CW-mimetic materials.
• Advancing the development of innovative soft materials by mimicking plant CWs.
• Elucidating complex structure-property relationships inherent in native CWs through biomimetic approaches.