Mechanical properties of the elemental nanocomponents of nacre structure

Stempflé, Philippe; Pantalé, Olivier; Rousseau, Marthe; Lopez, Évelyne; Bourrat, Xavier

doi:10.1016/j.msec.2010.03.003

Cited by 70 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The results show a high adhesion force between the proteins and the platelets and are evidence of organic-inorganic interactions [7]. Different experimental approaches have been used to determine the mechanical properties of the organic matrix in different stages of deformation [30][31][32][33][34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toughening mechanisms in bioinspired multilayered materials

Askarinejad

Rahbar

2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

123

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Outstanding mechanical properties of biological multilayered materials are strongly influenced by nanoscale features in their structure. In this study, mechanical behaviour and toughening mechanisms of abalone nacre-inspired multilayered materials are explored. In nacre's structure, the organic matrix, pillars and the roughness of the aragonite platelets play important roles in its overall mechanical performance. A micromechanical model for multilayered biological materials is proposed to simulate their mechanical deformation and toughening mechanisms. The fundamental hypothesis of the model is the inclusion of nanoscale pillars with near theoretical strength (s th E/30). It is also assumed that pillars and asperities confine the organic matrix to the proximity of the platelets, and, hence, increase their stiffness, since it has been previously shown that the organic matrix behaves more stiffly in the proximity of mineral platelets. The modelling results are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data for abalone nacre. The results demonstrate that the aragonite platelets, pillars and organic matrix synergistically affect the stiffness of nacre, and the pillars significantly contribute to the mechanical performance of nacre. It is also shown that the roughness induced interactions between the organic matrix and aragonite platelet, represented in the model by asperity elements, play a key role in strength and toughness of abalone nacre. The highly nonlinear behaviour of the proposed multilayered material is the result of distributed deformation in the nacre-like structure due to the existence of nano-asperities and nanopillars with near theoretical strength. Finally, tensile toughness is studied as a function of the components in the microstructure of nacre.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toughening mechanisms in bioinspired multilayered materials

Askarinejad

Rahbar

2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

123

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“…The multiscale mechanical properties of nacre, from the single aragonite platelet to the composite brick-and-mortar structure, were studied with great care using a combination of spherical and sharp nanoindentation tests. The elastic properties of the intracrystalline organic phase and its role in the deformation of the aragonite platelet were elucidated [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotropic microscale mechanical properties of coral skeletons

Pasquini

Molinari

Fantazzini

et al. 2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Scleractinian corals are a major source of biogenic calcium carbonate, yet the relationship between their skeletal microstructure and mechanical properties has been scarcely studied. In this work, the skeletons of two coral species: solitary Balanophyllia europaea and colonial Stylophora pistillata, were investigated by nanoindentation. The hardness H IT and Young's modulus E IT were determined from the analysis of several load -depth data on two perpendicular sections of the skeletons: longitudinal ( parallel to the main growth axis) and transverse. Within the experimental and statistical uncertainty, the average values of the mechanical parameters are independent on the section's orientation. The hydration state of the skeletons did not affect the mechanical properties. The measured values, E IT in the 76-77 GPa range, and H IT in the 4.9-5.1 GPa range, are close to the ones expected for polycrystalline pure aragonite. Notably, a small difference in H IT is observed between the species. Different from corals, single-crystal aragonite and the nacreous layer of the seashell Atrina rigida exhibit clearly orientation-dependent mechanical properties. The homogeneous and isotropic mechanical behaviour of the coral skeletons at the microscale is correlated with the microstructure, observed by electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, and with the X-ray diffraction patterns of the longitudinal and transverse sections.

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“…Such classification has been traditionally performed using optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Recently, scanning probe or atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been applied to investigate the microstructures of the shells in detail and information about the mechanical behavior has been obtained using tapping mode (Dauphin et al, 2003;Li et al, 2004Li et al, , 2007Rousseau et al, 2005;Oaki and Imai, 2005;Sethmann et al, 2005Sethmann et al, , 2006Cusack et al, 2008;Stempflé et al, 2010). However, these techniques only observe the morphology and/or surface topography of specimens, which may be sufficient for taxonomy but not enough to elucidate the formation mechanism of the microstructures, including the role of inter-and intra-crystalline organic matrices in biomineralization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%