Rigid Biological Systems as Models for Synthetic Composites

Abstract

Advances that have been made in understanding the mechanisms underlying the mechanical behavior of a number of biological materials (namely mollusk shells and sponge spicules) are discussed here. Attempts at biomimicry of the structure of a nacreous layer of a mollusk shell have shown reasonable success. However, they have revealed additional issues that must be addressed if new synthetic composite materials that are based on natural systems are to be constructed. Some of the important advantages and limitations of copying from nature are also described here.

Structure and mechanical properties of selected protective systems in marine organisms

“…Calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) is the biomineral phase in many of the highly rigid marine biological structural materials such as the nacre of abalone, conch and other marine mollusks as well as urchin spines and some crustacean exoskeletons [66][67][68][69]. Amorphous CaCO 3 is employed as a precursor to crystalline structures that generally take the form of aragonite (orthorhombic) or calcite (rhombohedral) depending on the growth parameters [68].…”

“…This growth has been shown to depend strongly on both nutrient availability and ambient environmental conditions [101]. At quasi-static loading rates in compression, the shells of abalone [66,97,102,103], conch [104,105] and giant clam [96] employ a variety of toughening mechanisms, realized through the brick-and-mortar structure of their nacre, including crack deflection and microbuckling of the calcium carbonate plates to induce a gradual "graceful failure." These toughening mechanisms are imaged in Fig.…”

Light curable dental composites designed with colloidal crystal reinforcement

“…The current paradigm for designing new composites is that structure, especially "the precise way in which the mineral is arranged in space", matters more than composition when determining properties [3,4]. In most hard biologic tissues such as dentin, enamel, bone, or nacre, the most common feature is a periodic arrangement of the reinforcing mineral phase.…”

High‐Performance Nanocomposites Inspired by Nature

“…Extensive research has revealed the mechanism responsible for natural materials' properties and shows that high-performance structural materials could be fabricated via bioinspired strategies. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] With the quest to develop novel bioinspired materials, it is essential to refine some basic scientific principles that can guide bioinspired fabrication.Recent research has indicated that the amplification of natural materials' mechanical properties far beyond those of the components that comprise them originates mainly from: i) a hierarchical micro-/nanoscale architecture and ii) abundant effective interface interactions. Here, we follow the roadmap of "discovery, invention, and creation," as shown in Figure 1, to give insight into the development of bioinspired structural materials.…”

“…Extensive research has revealed the mechanism responsible for natural materials' properties and shows that high-performance structural materials could be fabricated via bioinspired strategies. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] With the quest to develop novel bioinspired materials, it is essential to refine some basic scientific principles that can guide bioinspired fabrication.…”