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Micromechanical properties of biological silica in skeletons of deep-sea sponges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Alexander Woesz ,
James C. Weaver ,
Murat Kazanci ,
Yannicke Dauphin ,
Joanna Aizenberg ,
Daniel E. Morse  and
Peter Fratzl
Alexander Woesz
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany
James C. Weaver
Affiliation:
Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies and the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5100
Murat Kazanci
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany
Yannicke Dauphin
Affiliation:
UMR 8148 IDES, Universite Paris XI-Orsay, 91405 Orsay cedex, France
Joanna Aizenberg
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
Daniel E. Morse
Affiliation:
Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologiesand the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5100
Peter Fratzl*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: fratzl@mpikg.mpg.de
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Abstract

The silica skeleton of the deep-sea sponge Euplectella aspergillum was recently shown to be structured over at least six levels of hierarchy with a clear mechanical functionality. In particular, the skeleton is built of laminated spicules that consist of alternating layers of silica and organic material. In the present work, we investigated the micromechanical properties of the composite material in spicules of Euplectella aspergillum and the giant anchor spicule of Monorhaphis chuni. Organic layers were visualized by backscattered electron imaging in the environmental scanning electron microscope. Raman spectroscopic imaging showed that the organic layers are protein-rich and that there is an OH-enrichment in silica near the central organic filament of the spicule. Small-angle x-ray scattering revealed the presence of nanospheres with a diameter of only 2.8 nm as the basic units of silica. Nanoindentation showed a considerably reduced stiffness of the spicule silica compared to technical quartz glass with different degrees of hydration. Moreover, stiffness and hardness were shown to oscillate as a result of the laminate structure of the spicules. In summary, biogenic silica from deep-sea sponges has reduced stiffness but an architecture providing substantial toughening over that of technical glass, both by structuring at the nanometer and at the micrometer level.

Keywords

BiologicalMicrostructureNanostructure
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Materials Research , Volume 21 , Issue 8 , August 2006 , pp. 2068 - 2078
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

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