Ultra-lightweight living structural material for enhanced stiffness and environmental sensing

Heechul Park; Alan F. Schwartzman; Tzu-Chieh Tang; Lei Wang; Timothy K. Lu

Materials Today Bio (Feb 2023)

Ultra-lightweight living structural material for enhanced stiffness and environmental sensing

Heechul Park,
Alan F. Schwartzman,
Tzu-Chieh Tang,
Lei Wang,
Timothy K. Lu

Affiliations

Heechul Park: Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
Alan F. Schwartzman: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
Tzu-Chieh Tang: Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
Lei Wang: Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
Timothy K. Lu: Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Corresponding author. Synthetic Biology Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 18
p. 100504

Abstract

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Natural materials such as bone, wood, and bamboo can inspire the fabrication of stiff, lightweight structural materials. Biofilms are one of the most dominant forms of life in nature. However, little is known about their physical properties as a structural material. Here we report an Escherichia coli biofilm having a Young's modulus close to 10 GPa with ultra-low density, indicating a high-performance structural material. The mechanical and structural characterization of the biofilm and its components illuminates its adaptable bottom-up design, consisting of lightweight microscale cells covered by a dense network of amyloid nanofibrils on the surface. We engineered E. coli such that 1) carbon nanotubes assembled on the biofilm, enhancing its stiffness to over 30 GPa, or that 2) the biofilm sensitively detected heavy metal as an example of an environmental toxin. These demonstrations offer new opportunities for developing responsive living structural materials to serve many real-world applications.

Published in Materials Today Bio

ISSN: 2590-0064 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Medicine: Medicine (General); Science: Biology (General)
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/materials-today-bio

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