From bioinspired multifunctionality to mimumes

The methodologies of bioinspiration, biomimetics and bioreplication are inevitably pointing to the incorporation of multifunctionality in engineered materials when designing ever more complex systems. Optimal multifunctionality is one of the defining characteristics of metamaterials. As fibrous materials are commonly manufactured from a variety of source materials, mimumes – that is, microfibrous multifunctional metamaterials – are industrially viable even today, as exemplified by mimumes of parylene C. The microfibrous morphology of mimumes enhances surface-dominated effects in comparison to those evinced by bulk materials.