Towards Novel Biomimetic Building Materials: Evaluating Aboriginal And Western Scientific Knowledge Of Spinifex Grass

Abstract

Deriving new materials from renewable, non-petrochemical feedstocks is currently an area of great interest to materials engineers. Spinifex grasses have been largely ignored as a sustainable resource despite their widespread availability throughout Australia and their unique biology that has evolved in harsh environments. This project involves an in-depth study of the structure and properties of both the leaf and resinous components of various Spinifex species. The properties will be benchmarked against other natural fibers and natural resins. The objective of this project is to apply traditional Aboriginal knowledge to produce novel biomimetic building materials based on Spinifex.