Related papers: Freezing as a path to build complex composites
Natural ceramic composites present complex microstructures that lead to tortuous crack paths and confer them high toughness. Current microreinforced composites do not yet reach the same level of complexity in their microstructures,…
Glasses have numerous applications due to their exceptional transparency, however, poor fracture and impact resistance limit their applications as an engineering material. One relatively recent approach to improve the mechanical properties…
Nature provides many paradigms for the design and fabrication of artificial composite materials. Inspired by the relationship between the well-ordered architecture and biopolymers found in natural nacre, we present a facile strategy to…
Although extensive efforts have been put into the development of porous scaffolds for bone regeneration, with encouraging results, all porous materials have a common limitation: the inherent lack of strength associated with porosity. Hence,…
Natural hard composites like human bone possess a combination of strength and toughness that exceeds that of their constituents and of many engineered composites. This augmentation is attributed to their complex hierarchical structure,…
Healthcare materials, whether they are natural or synthetic, are complex structures made up of simpler materials. Because of their intricate structure, composite materials are ideal for prosthetics because it is possible to tune their…
Intricate biomineralization processes in molluscs engineer hierarchical structures with meso-, nano-, and atomic architectures that give the final composite material exceptional mechanical strength and optical iridescence on the macroscale.…
Due to their exceptional mechanical and chemical properties and their natural abundance, cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are promising building blocks of sustainable polymer composites. However, the rapid gelation of CNC dispersions has…
Recently, it has been found experimentally that hydrated nacre exhibits a nonlinear mechanical response. While mechanical nonlinearity has been shown to be important in other biological structures, such as spider webs, the implications of…
This work presents BioPykrete, a new sustainable bio-composite material created from ice, nano-crystalline cellulose (CNC), and a tailor-made chimera protein designed to bind the two together. We developed and produced the chimera protein…
Freeze-casting produces materials with complex, three-dimensional pore structures which may be tuned during the solidification process. The range of potential applications of freeze-cast materials is vast, and includes: structural…
An increasing variety of crystal structures has been observed in soft condensed matter over the past two decades, surpassing most expectations for the diversity of arrangements accessible through classical driving forces. Here, we survey…
The combination of soft nanoscale organic components with inorganic nanograins hierarchically designed by natural organisms results in highly ductile structural materials that can withstand mechanical impact and exhibit high resilience on…
The design of complex materials and the formation of specific patterns often arise from the properties of the individual building blocks. In this respect, colloidal systems offer a unique opportunity because nowadays they can be synthesized…
The formation of regular patterns is a common feature of many solidification processes involving cast materials. We describe here how regular patterns can be obtained in porous alumina by controlling the freezing of ceramic slurries…
The formation of regular patterns is a common feature of many solidification processes involving cast materials. We describe here how regular patterns can be obtained in porous alumina and hydroxyapatite (HAP) by controlling the freezing of…
Hard helices can be regarded as a paradigmatic elementary model for a number of natural and synthetic soft matter systems, all featuring the helix as their basic structural unit: from natural polynucleotides and polypeptides to synthetic…
Nanoporous graphitic carbon membranes with defined chemical composition and pore architecture are novel nanomaterials that are actively pursued. Compared to easy-to-make porous carbon powders that dominate the porous carbon research and…
Ice-templating is a simple materials processing and shaping route where the growth of crystals from a solvent template the porosity. Although the principles of ice-templating were established a long time ago, it has lured considerable…
Similar to nacre or brick-and-mortar structures, imbricated lamellar structures are widely found in natural and man-made materials and are of interest for biomimetics. These structures are known to be rather insensitive to defects and to…