Abstract
We show how nacre and pearl construction in bivalve and gastropod molluscs can be understood in terms of successive processes of controlled self-assembly from the molecular- to the macro-scale. This dynamics involves the physics of the formation of both solid and liquid crystals and of membranes and fluids to produce a nanostructured hierarchically constructed biological composite of polysaccharides, proteins and mineral, whose mechanical properties far surpass those of its component parts.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Bivalvia / physiology
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Bivalvia / ultrastructure
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Chitin / chemistry
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Crystallization
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Gastropoda / physiology
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Gastropoda / ultrastructure
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Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
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Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
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Minerals / metabolism
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Mollusca / physiology*
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Mollusca / ultrastructure
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Nanostructures / chemistry
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Nanostructures / ultrastructure
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Proteins / chemistry
Substances
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Macromolecular Substances
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Minerals
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Proteins
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Chitin