Abstract
Compositional and structural variations at various scale levels have been investigated in the shells of the modern brachiopod Megerlia truncata combining transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cathodoluminescence (CL), laser-ablation- inductively-coupled-mass-spectrometric (LA-ICP-MS) and micro- Raman spectroscopical (μRS) analyses. Our results show that these shells can be addressed as hierarchically structured, multi-scaled organic/inorganic fiber composites. A significant chemical as well as a mechanical inhomogeneity is observable within the shells. This occurs on various scale levels ranging from less then one to a few hundred microns. In concert to systematic variations in micro- and nanohardness the μRS and CL analyses reveal a systematic distribution and incorporation of organic material within the shells, which is negligible within the nanocrystalline primary layer but is present in a significant amount in the innermost part of the secondary layer, next to the organic tissue of the animal. This study together with results given in [13] shows that mechanical performance (hardness and fracture toughness) of this biomaterial is mainly determined by textural features, an extreme variation of crystallite size and a purpose oriented inter-linkage of organic and inorganic components.
Dokumententyp: | Zeitschriftenartikel |
---|---|
Fakultät: | Geowissenschaften > Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften > Kristallographie und Materialwissenschaft |
Themengebiete: | 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Dokumenten ID: | 18850 |
Datum der Veröffentlichung auf Open Access LMU: | 10. Mrz. 2014, 14:15 |
Letzte Änderungen: | 29. Apr. 2016, 09:16 |