Mineral bridges of nacre and its effects

Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is a kind of composites of aragonite platelets sandwiched between organic materials. Its excellent mechanical properties are thought to stem from the microarchitecture that is traditionally described as a brick and mortar arrangement. A new microstructure, referred to as m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta mechanica Sinica 2001-08, Vol.17 (3), p.251-257
Main Authors: Fan, Song, Yilong, Bai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Mechanical properties
Microstructure
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Summary:Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is a kind of composites of aragonite platelets sandwiched between organic materials. Its excellent mechanical properties are thought to stem from the microarchitecture that is traditionally described as a brick and mortar arrangement. A new microstructure, referred to as mineral bridge in the biomineralization, is directly observed in the organic matrix layers (mortar) of nacre. This is an indication that the organic matrix layer of nacre should be treated as a three-dimensional interface and the microarchitecture of nacre ought to be considered as a brick-bridge-mortar structure rather than the traditional one. Experiments and analyses show that the mineral bridges not only improve the mechanical properties of the organic matrix layers but also play an important role in the pattern of the crack extension in nacre.
ISSN:0567-7718
1614-3116
DOI:10.1007/BF02486881