Scientists around the world are now drawing inspiration from biological systems and renewable feedstocks to create next-generation materials for adhesives, composites, coatings, and biomedical applications. Recent research from Canada, South Korea, and Finland demonstrates how sustainable materials development is evolving beyond basic replacement chemistry into highly engineered systems with smart functionality, recyclability, and enhanced mechanical performance. From mussel-inspired scaffold materials and photo-switchable adhesives to recyclable bio-based epoxy and polyester resins, these innovations illustrate how renewable chemistry is becoming an increasingly important part of advanced manufacturing and materials science.

Bio-based Materials

Scientists at McGill University are using the process that mussels and mistletoe plants employ to build natural fibers and adhesives as inspiration for a a new way to manufacture complex materials. The research could offer a more environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional glues. Whereas previous studies in the field focused on understanding how natural materials form, the new research uses those insights to engineer entirely new composite materials in the lab. “In the older papers we were studying biological materials, while in the current paper we are making synthetic biologically inspired materials,” explained Matthew Harrington, a chemistry professor at McGill and lead author on the study.

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The researchers drew inspiration from the protein-based adhesive structures produced by mussels combined with the cellulose fiber systems found in mistletoe berries to create the materials. By mixing a laboratory-produced mussel protein with modified cellulose nanocrystals derived from wood pulp, they created microscopic liquid droplets.

“Mussels make glues, fibers, and coatings using dense droplets of proteins, while mistletoe uses cellulose nanocrystals as a rigid building material in its stiff and sticky fibers,” said Hamideh Alanagh, a postdoctoral researcher and first, co-corresponding author on the study. “Combining these concepts, we set the stage for sustainable fabrication of advanced materials.”

When put through a freeze-drying method, the droplets self-assembled into aligned porous scaffolds with layers of structure at different scales, where tiny building blocks organize into larger patterns similar to those found in biological tissues. The droplets are the precursors for the more complex building materials.

The scaffolds can also be dissolved back into droplets and reassembled into new structures, suggesting a manufacturing process that could reuse the same material multiple times, contributing to a more sustainable material. Additionally, testing demonstrated that the materials were not toxic to human cells, which points to potential biomedical uses such as tissue engineering.

Mistletoe- and Mussel-Inspired Fabrication of Hierarchically Structured Protein-Cellulose Scaffolds From Biomolecular Condensates was published in Advanced Materials.

Eco-friendly Smart Adhesives

As the aerospace, electronics, and automotive industries are searching for new products that address the inherent sustainability flaws of traditional petroleum-based products, demand for high-strength, reusable, and bio-based alternatives that satisfy both performance requirements and circular economy mandates is growing. The manufacturing sector is looking for more advanced adhesives with diverse functionalities. A research team from the Department of Nano Convergence Engineering at Jeonbuk National University, South Korea, is responding to those demands with the development of a novel eco-friendly, photo-switchable smart adhesive.

“We synthesized a tetrahydrogeraniol-based monomer, a derivative of rose oil, and successfully fabricated an eco-friendly adhesive containing 95% of it,” explained Jeonbuk National University professor Kwang-Un Jeong. “The final adhesive, incorporating a small amount of a functional monomer that responds to light and adheres strongly to various substrates, exhibits high-responsive adhesion, allowing quantitative control of its bonding strength. It is eco-friendly, cost-effective, versatile, and reusable.”

To develop the adhesive, the researchers synthesized two primary components: an acid azobenzene-based methacrylate monomer (AAMM) and a biomass-derived tetrahydrogeraniol methacrylate monomer (TGMM). The AAMM component contains azobenzene, carboxylic acid, and methacrylate groups. Azobenzene derivatives are recognized for their reversible light-responsive switching behavior, making them well suited for photo-responsive adhesive systems. In addition, the carboxylic acid groups enable strong hydrogen bonding with a range of substrates, helping enhance adhesion performance.

Made from rose-oil-derived tetrahydrogeraniol, TGMM contributes to biodegradability and sustainability. It also helps maintain balance between flexibility and mechanical stability in the adhesive. By copolymerizing AAMM and TGMM through their methacrylate groups, the researchers successfully created a new eco-friendly and photo-switchable adhesive, termed the T/A adhesive.

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Testing showed that the optimized T/A adhesive exhibited strong, reversible photo-switchable adhesion across a variety of substrates, which included metals, plastics, rubber, glass, cork, and paper. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light caused the adhesive to become more fluid-like, reducing its adhesion strength. When subsequently exposed to visible light, the material regained its original adhesion performance and returned to a more solid-like state, demonstrating fully reversible light-controlled adhesion behavior.

The researchers also demonstrated that adhesion strength could be adjusted through heat and chemical exposure. Raising the temperature above 500 °C significantly weakened adhesion, while cooling restored bonding performance. In addition, the adhesive could be dissolved using solvents such as chloroform and recovered after solvent evaporation. Across all three switching methods, reused T/A adhesives maintained more than 90% of their original adhesion strength over multiple reuse cycles.

The team further developed a smart UV sensor using the adhesive in combination with a spring-based mechanism designed to function as a UV-responsive electrical switch. In the device, the T/A adhesive secures the spring in a position that keeps the electrical circuit open. Upon exposure to UV light, the adhesive’s reduced bonding strength releases the spring, allowing the circuit to close.

The study, Eco-friendly and photo-switchable smart adhesives from biomass-based copolymers with acid azobenzene functions, was published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.

Bio-based Resins for Composite Applications

Scientists at the University of Oulu, in Finland, recently presented research on new high-performance bio-based resins that can replace conventional oil-based materials in composite products. These resins present a sustainable solution without compromising strength, cost, or industrial scalability.

Developed from biomass-derived platform chemicals, the new epoxy and polyester resins deliver performance comparable to, and in some cases exceeding, traditional fossil-based materials. The feedstocks are obtained from widely available forestry and agricultural byproducts, including sawdust and straw, converting low-value waste streams into advanced materials for high-performance applications. Polyester resins are commonly used in fiberglass composite products such as boats and caravans, while epoxy resins play a critical role in adhesives and high-performance composites used in sports equipment and industrial applications.

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According to Doctoral Researcher Mikko Salonen, the results are striking: “The biomass-based polyester resin we developed shows up to 76% higher tensile strength than a commercial fossil-based polyester resin.” The findings demonstrate that bio-based thermoset resins can achieve technical performance equal to or exceeding today’s materials.

The new resins offer a critical sustainability advantage: chemical recyclability. Unlike conventional composite materials that can be difficult to recycle, such as those used in wind turbine blades, the new materials can be chemically broken down and reused as raw materials, opening possibilities for more circular composite manufacturing.

The key building blocks — including hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural — are derived from cellulose and hemicellulose found in lignocellulosic biomass in forestry, and agricultural side streams provide a plentiful and renewable feedstock in many countries. While the forest industry has traditionally focused on pulp production, new technologies now enable broader utilization of biomass components such as lignin. Integrating chemical industry processes with forest-based raw materials may create entirely new bioeconomy value chains.

The epoxy resin results were published in an article titled Biomass-based furan epoxies with high-performance and closed-loop recyclability, in February 2026 in the study Circular composite materials.