Chemical structuring and materials design in the shells of modern brachiopods

Griesshaber, Erika; Job, R.; Kelm, Klemens; Sehrbrock, Angelika; Neuser, Rolf D.; Mader, Werner and Schmahl, Wolfgang W. (2005): Chemical structuring and materials design in the shells of modern brachiopods. In: Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 898

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.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Geosciences > Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences > Crystallography and Materials Science
• Subjects: 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences and geology
• Language: English