Abstract
Nature has always inspired innovative minds for development of new designs. Animals and plants provide various structures with lower density, more strength and high energy sorption abilities that can incite the development of new designs with significant properties. By observing the important functions of biological structures found in nature, scientists have fabricated structures by bio-inspiration that have been proved to exhibit a significant improvement over traditional structures for their applications in the environmental and energy sector. Bio-fabricated materials have shown many advantages due to their easy synthesis, flexible nature, high performance and multiple functions as these can be used in light harvesting systems, batteries, biofuels, catalysis, purification of water, air and environmental monitoring. However, there is an urgent need for sensitive fabrication instruments that can synthesize bio-inspired structures and convert laboratory scale synthesis into large scale production. The present review highlights recent advances in synthesis of bio-inspired materials and use of hierarchical nanomaterials generated through biomolecular self-assembly for their use in removal of environmental contaminants and sustainable development.