Introduction
The well-organised complex structures and biogenic materials of nature have fascinated material scientists for a considerably long time in history. The scientist’s effort to correlate technology and biology has led to the growth of a scientific field called biomimetics (Raj 2005, p.657). Over the years, nature has perfected its concepts hence material scientists and engineers attempt to comprehend these ideas to solve some of their daily problems. To this moment, the concept of mimicking nature is still considered unexploited by many. However, with the current technological advancements, researchers have embarked on numerous studies in nature relevant to material science (Raj 2005, p.660). Such studies have led to the development of intelligent materials among which are composites, artificial cellulose, and ceramics. By analysing the natural ceramics found in seashells, scientists have been able to develop biomimetic ceramics improving their strength and toughness (Raj 2005, p.657).
The key structural feature(s) of the biological organism mimicked
Manmade Ceramic materials can withstand high temperature and resistance although they fracture easily. To improve on these flaws, scientists have spent a considerable amount of time attempting to mimic the mollusc shell consisting of natural ceramic composites (Bourzac 2011, p.1). Mollusc shell consists of 95 percent of CaCO3 and the proteins film acting as the binders. Mollusc shell comprises of three segments nacreous, periostracum and prismatic layers. The prismatic and nacreous layers occupy the greatest part of the shell hence determining the shell’s shape and mechanical properties. Scientist has noted that when the abalones shells are magnified 300, 000 times with an electron microscope, the abalones shells resemble brick walls revealing the protein “mortar.” Unlike manmade ceramics, seashells calcium carbonate are strongly bounded by the protein layer making them tough enough to withstand enormous fracturing forces. The laminated layers of the shell consist of particles of several sizes and shapes building up a unit shell (Reis 2004, p. 89). The arrangement of the aragonites is such that they appear parallel, crossed, and inclined. These arrangements provide the shells with their excellent toughness and strength (Peng et al. 2011, p. 2011).
The mechanism of how the biomimetic concept improves the fracture-resistance of the material
Due to their unique microstructure and strength, scientists have been motivated to design and construct similar ceramic composites. By incorporating the shell properties and features into manmade ceramics, scientists were able to come up with harder, stronger, and more superior mechanical ceramic materials (Peng et al. 2011, p.2012). Similarly, the materials obtained from this synthesis withstand higher temperatures than the ordinary manmade ceramics. Through advanced ceramic manufacturing, scientists can improve the damage tolerance of manmade ceramics by mimicking the seashells architecture (Peng et al. 2011, p.2012). It is possible for material engineers to produce and enhance the mechanical properties of their structures by emulating the structural layers in the organic shells in the models. In these models, engineers normally incorporate aluminum oxide and other different ceramic composites.
The manufacturing process used to make the material, or incorporate the biomimetic features into the material
During this composite analysis, two biometric polymers were developed for comparison (Peng et al. 2011, p.1). The two materials were epoxy resin and epoxy fabric. The two polymers are preferred due to their widespread use in industrial and civil structures. To mimic the fabrication of the shells, epoxy resin is obtained from minute sheets of 4mm thickness. Afterward, the epoxy resin is used to initiate a combination of the sheets using the epoxy resin and placed in a hot press with a temperature of 393 Kelvin (Peng et al. 2011, p.1). Later, the ceramics were used as specimens for analysis. For epoxy fabric, similar specimens were obtained using a similar process except that their fiber fabrics were placed in between the ceramic sheets. The two fabrication processes ensured that the developed ceramic had different layers of polymers arranged in such a manner to achieve the required toughness (Likhtenshtein 2003 p.124).
The test/s used in the research to show the improved fracture-resistance, including the specific material mechanical properties measured
To test the specimens’ strength, the collected specimens were analysed using the impact tester (Peng et al. 2011, p.2013). During this test, sketches were developed for comparison. It is possible to evaluate the impact strength by dividing the energy observed for the specimen with the surface area of the working section of the specimen (Peng et al. 2011, p. 2013). In this regard, it is possible to illustrate how the strength and toughness of these manmade ceramics have undergone enhancement by comparing the obtained results with those of the control experiments.
Thoughts on how significant an improvement was made in the material’s fracture properties
In my opinion, the improvement made on the manmade ceramics is a significant achievement because it will reduce the crack and shatter probabilities of the ceramics allowing varied usage. The realisation of strong ceramics facilitates the widespread use of ceramics in various fields. In this regard, traditional ceramics and glasses can be used in various technologies such as in building space ships’ body parts (Gebelein 1990, p.34). With these mechanically strong ceramics, structural engineers can reduce the weight and cost of modern buildings. Similarly, automobile engineers can develop resilient automobile body parts from ceramics saving on the cost of automobiles. In addition, these improvements will trigger other similar researches across various disciplines leading to enhanced utilisation of the biomimetic technology unlike before (Hummel 1998, p. 124). By so doing, several innovations will be realised in all sectors leading to technological breakthroughs in biomimetics.
Potential applications of the newly developed biomimetic material
With the newly developed technology, scientists can develop lighter, fracture resistance and high-temperature tolerant materials for making space vehicles’ body parts (Mann 1996 p.19). Similarly, a technological breakthrough can be used in medicine to produce artificial bones. These artificial bones will be hard and possess the appearance of natural bones (Kassinger 2003 p.47). With further research, a scientist may unveil the reason why teeth and bones form from a combination of proteins and other organic compounds at low temperatures unlike the manmade ceramics that are still considered inferior (Raj 2005, p.731). Scientists have established that abalone shells comprise several industrial products hence more research needs to be conducted on how to harness them (Ravaglioli 2002, p.67).
Through this project, an excellent example of bio mimetic is illustrated starting from the seashell design to the modeling and analysis of the improved manmade ceramics. Throughout the project, all the phases used in the design mimicked the seashell materials illustrating how it is possible to extract an improved ceramic indirectly from nature (Peng et al. 2011, p.2013). However, in all these projects, it should be noted that natural composites, unlike the artificial composites, contain up to 99 percent of ceramic and 1percent of polymer. Industrially, this ratio cannot be achieved hence more research needs to be done to facilitate the design of such excellent composites solely provided by nature.
References
Bourzac, K 2011, Ceramics That Won’t Shatter. Technology Review, vol. 1 no. 1, p. 2. Gebelein, C. G 1990, Biomimetic polymers, Plenum Press, New York.
Hummel, R. E 1998, Understanding materials science: history, properties, applications, Springer, New York.
Kassinger, R 2003, Ceramics: from magic pots to man-made bones, Twenty-First Century Books, Brookfield, Conn.
Likhtenshtein, G. I 2003, New trends in enzyme catalysis and biomimetic chemica lreactions., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.
Mann, S 1996, Biomimetic materials chemistry, VCH, New York.
Peng, A, X. Wang B, J.G. X. Wua, B. C 2011, Laminated microstructure of Bivalvashell and research of biomimetic ceramic/polymer composite. Ceramics International, vol. 1 no. 1, p. 4.
Ravaglioli, A 2002, Ceramics, cells, and tissues: biomimetic engineering : a new rolefor ceramics, ISTEC-CNR, Faenza.
Raj, B 2005, Raj, B. Frontiers in Materials Science By B. Raj. Hyderabad, University Press, Hyderabad.
Reis, R. L 2004, Learning from nature how to design new implantable biomaterials: from biomineralisation fundamentals to biomimetic materials and processing routes, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.