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A natural impact-resistant bicontinuous composite nanoparticle coating
Wei Huang1,2, Mehdi Shishehbor3, Nicolás Guarín-Zapata3
1Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
Nature Materials
|August 19, 2020
Summary
Mantis shrimp dactyl clubs possess a unique impact-resistant coating made of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. This structure enables damage localization and prevents failure during high-speed strikes, outperforming engineered materials.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials science
- Mechanics of materials
- Structural biology
Background:
- Nature creates advanced materials under environmental constraints.
- The mantis shrimp's dactyl club is a strong, tough composite material.
- This structure withstands high-speed impacts during feeding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact-resistant coating of the mantis shrimp's dactyl club.
- To understand the structural mechanisms behind its damage tolerance.
- To compare its properties with engineered materials.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the dactyl club's impact surface composition.
- Microstructural characterization of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles and organic matrix.
- High strain rate impact testing to observe material behavior.
Main Results:
- The coating consists of ~65-nm bicontinuous hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (~88% by volume) in an organic matrix.
- Nanoparticles are mesocrystalline, assembled from aligned nanocrystals.
- Under high strain rates, particles move, nanocrystalline networks fracture and amorphize.
- The organic network provides toughening and damping (loss coefficient ~0.02).
Conclusions:
- The mantis shrimp dactyl club achieves high stiffness and damping.
- This unique combination allows for damage localization and prevents catastrophic failure.
- The biomaterial design surpasses many engineered impact-resistant materials.
