TY  - JOUR
A1  - Seto, Jong
A1  - Ma, Yurong
A1  - Davis, Sean A.
A1  - Meldrum, Fiona
A1  - Gourrier, Aurelien
A1  - Kim, Yi-Yeoun
A1  - Schilde, Uwe
A1  - Sztucki, Michael
A1  - Burghammer, Manfred
A1  - Maltsev, Sergey
A1  - Jäger, Christian
A1  - Cölfen, Helmut
T1  - Structure-property relationships of a biological mesocrystal in the adult sea urchin spine
JF  - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
N2  - Structuring overmany length scales is a design strategy widely used in Nature to create materials with unique functional properties. We here present a comprehensive analysis of an adult sea urchin spine, and in revealing a complex, hierarchical structure, showhow Nature fabricates a material which diffracts as a single crystal of calcite and yet fractures as a glassy material. Each spine comprises a highly oriented array of Mg-calcite nanocrystals in which amorphous regions and macromolecules are embedded. It is postulated that this mesocrystalline structure forms via the crystallization of a dense array of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) precursor particles. A residual surface layer of ACC and/or macromolecules remains around the nanoparticle units which creates the mesocrystal structure and contributes to the conchoidal fracture behavior. Nature's demonstration of howcrystallization of an amorphous precursor phase can create a crystalline material with remarkable properties therefore provides inspiration for a novel approach to the design and synthesis of synthetic composite materials.
KW  - calcium carbonate biomineralization
KW  - echinoderm skeleton
KW  - hierarchical structuring
KW  - mesocrystal
KW  - skeletal elements
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1109243109
SN  - 0027-8424
VL  - 109
IS  - 10
SP  - 3699
EP  - 3704
PB  - National Acad. of Sciences
CY  - Washington
ER  -