Paleo-inspiration
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paleo-inspiration is a paradigm shift that leads scientists and designers to draw inspiration from ancient materials (from art, archaeology, natural history or paleo-environments) to develop new systems or processes, particularly with a view to sustainability.
Paleo-inspiration has already contributed to numerous applications in fields as varied as green chemistry, the development of new artist materials, composite materials, microelectronics, and construction materials.[1]
While this type of application has been known for a long time, the concept itself was coined by teams from the French National Centre for Scientific Research, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Bern University of Applied Sciences from the term Bioinspiration. They published the concept in a seminal paper published online in 2017 by the journal Angewandte Chemie.[2]
Different names have been used to designate the corresponding systems, in particular: paleo-inspired,[2] antiqua-inspired,[1] antiquity-inspired[3] or archaeomimetic.[4] The use of these different names illustrates the extremely large time gap between the sources of inspiration, from millions of years ago when considering palaeontological systems and fossils, to much more recent archaeological or artistic material systems.
Properties sought
Distinct physico-chemical and mechanical properties are sought.
They may concern intrinsic properties of the paleo-inspired materials:
- durability (materials found in certain contexts, having resisted alteration in these environments) and resistance to corrosion or alteration
- electronic or magnetic properties
- optical properties (especially from pigments or dyes, materials used for ceramic manufacture[5])
They can also concern processes:
- processes with low energy or resource consumption, with a view to chemical processes favouring sustainable development
- soft chemistry processes
