Nature learned long ago how useful proteins are as a diverse set of building blocks to make materials with very diverse properties. Spider webs, egg whites, hair follicles, and skeletal muscles are all largely protein. This book provides a glimpse into both nature's strategies for the design and produc tion of protein-based materials, and how scientists have been able to go beyond the constraints of natural materials to produce synthetic analogs with potentially wider ranges of properties. The work presented is very much the beginning of the story. Only recently has there been much progress...

The properties of materials depend on the nature of the macromolecules, small molecules and inorganic components and the interfaces and interactions between them. Polymer chemistry and physics, and inorganic phase structure and density are major factors that influence the performance of materials. In addition, molecular recognition, organic-inorganic interfaces and many other types of interactions among components are key issues in determining the properties of materials for a wide range of applications. Materials require ments are becoming more and more specialized to meet increasingly...

Nature learned long ago how useful proteins are as a diverse set of building blocks to make materials with very diverse properties. Spider webs, egg whites, hair follicles, and skeletal muscles are all largely protein. This book provides a glimpse into both nature's strategies for the design and produc tion of protein-based materials, and how scientists have been able to go beyond the constraints of natural materials to produce synthetic analogs with potentially wider ranges of properties. The work presented is very much the beginning of the story. Only recently has there been much progress...