Sophisticated Nanostructure in Stone Part of Sea Urchin Tooth: Enlightenment for Artificial Composites

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• 作者：Xinqiao Zhu ; Shengnan Wang ; Jingfei Deng ; Rizhi Wang ; Xiaoxiang Wang
• 刊名：Crystal Growth & Design
• 出版年：2015
• 出版时间：August 5, 2015
• 年：2015
• 卷：15
• 期：8
• 页码：3842-3846
• 全文大小：658K
• ISSN：1528-7505

文摘

Sea urchin teeth, which are used to scrape rocks for food, assume significant mechanical functions. Unraveling their design strategies could provide inspiration for the pursuit of high-performance artificial composites. In this work, we used scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy to probe the elaborate nanostructure in the stone part of Glyptocidaris crenularis tooth. Our results show that the mesocrystalline matrix, though diffracting as a single crystal, is composed of highly oriented nanocrystals and shares almost coincident crystal orientation with its central single-crystal fiber. Interestingly, the fiber and matrix are fitted together by numerous single-crystal nanostrips rather than being completely separated by an organic sheath. This sophisticated architecture may endow the tooth with sufficient structural stability to prevent catastrophic fractures.