Scientists Create Tough Ceramic That Mimics Mother of Pearl

Posted byDavid Fox

The roughness of the alumina/PMMA hybrid ceramic controls the strength of the interfaces, which is critical in determining the material’s overall toughness as it affects the sliding process in the polymeric

I REALLY like press releases that open like this:

Biomimicry – technological innovation inspired by nature – is one of the hottest ideas in science…

But what a downer then to read:

…but has yet to yield many practical advances.

Ooops, too fast, now the good news!

Time for a change. Scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have mimicked the structure of mother of pearl to create what may well be the toughest ceramic ever produced.

Check out how they are putting relatively weak components together in such a way to make a much tougher and more durable material. Continued at Berkeley Lab press release…