Inherent Role of Water in Damage Tolerance of the Prismatic Mineral–Organic Biocomposite in the Shell of Pinna Nobilis

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Bernd Bayerlein - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)
  • Luca Bertinetti - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)
  • Benny Bar-On - , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Author)
  • Horst Blumtritt - , Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics (Author)
  • Peter Fratzl - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)
  • Igor Zlotnikov - , Multi-scale Analysis (Junior Research Group), Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)

Abstract

The combination of high stiffness, strength, and toughness of many biological tissues is achieved through complex 3D arrangement of hard and soft components. While the hard building blocks are associated with the general stiffness of these biocomposite structures, the soft organic constituents provide the necessary flexibility and toughness and are susceptible to moisture uptake. Because many biological materials reside in humid environments, water is an inherent component of their microstructure. Hence, many studies have emphasized the effect of moisture content on mechanical performance of these materials. High toughness is indeed reported in materials, such as bone, teeth, mollusk shells, and glass sponges, when measured in high relative humidities, nevertheless, not much is known about the exact mechanisms that are responsible for this phenomenon. In the present work, newly developed environmentally controlled nanomechanical characterization techniques are employed to probe the prismatic layer in the shell of Pinna nobilis consisting of hard calcitic blocks surrounded by 1 μm thick organic matrix. Using spatially resolved mechanical data, it is demonstrated that water not only strongly affects the mechanical properties of the biocomposite tissue and its constituents but also is an integral part of explicit intrinsic and extrinsic toughening mechanisms revealed in this study.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3663-3669
Number of pages7
JournalAdvanced functional materials
Volume26
Issue number21
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jun 2016
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-4666-9610/work/142238934

Keywords

Keywords

  • biomaterials, glass transition, mineral–organic interfaces, nanomechanical characterization, relative humidity, toughness