A good a bit chaotic, as it happens. When researchers tested the strength of each network, the Bouligand Type IV structure absorbed 20 times more energy than the Type I. “This type of microstructure ensures that this type of composite is very hard,” says the University of Southern California engineer. , Qiming Wang, co-author of a new paper describing the journal’s findings Advanced materials. “When you have a crack, that crack will propagate in the twist pattern to dissipate the energy inside the material.” In fact, the material absorbs more energy than natural mother-of-pearl (mother-of-pearl), which gives shells strength and also beats existing artificial materials, say Wang and colleagues.
Just as the mantis shrimp hammer absorbs the energy of its fists without breaking, so do the materials developed with this new method. For potential uses, Wang says to think about body armor, which must dissipate the energy of a bullet. Calcium carbonate is also quite light, so scientists could also grow harder panels for airplanes or even skins for robots, says Wang.
“This is a way for me to do production in the future, and I’m not the only one saying that,” says Purdue University civil engineer Pablo Zavattieri, who was not involved in the research. In traditional manufacturing, defects can creep in. Nature, on the other hand, has developed over millions of years the wonderful Bouligand structure of the mantis shrimp hammer and is a model that can be reproduced with a simple network and a bacterial bath. “Nature is impeccable in this way,” says Zavattieri. “Nature is a 3D printer.”
Another thing that makes this material built with bacteria special is its ability to regenerate. Like, if instead of building roads, we grown their? “If we have damage, just put the bacteria inside and it can grow back,” says Wang. “These structures are very hard, very strong and can be repaired on their own.”
Researchers are not yet there – they received the bacteria to grow minerals under controlled conditions in the laboratory and even then it was only in small quantities. Extension for road construction would bring additional engineering challenges; for example, obtaining the correct ratio between the supporting scaffold and the reinforcing material. But Zavattieri is already working on 3D printing of the concrete. “I don’t think he’s super crazy,” he says. “We can have robots that print the classic scaffold, leave the bacteria there and then let the material grow for 10 days.”
So probably one day, the unrestricted weft of mantis shrimp could help repair America’s destroyed infrastructure, instead of just breaking your thumbs.
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