Biological systems can harness their living cells for growth and regeneration, but engineering systems cannot. Until now.
Ling Li, an assistant professor in mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, has found insights into building stronger and tougher ceramics by studying the shells of bivalve mollusks.
In a new study published in Nature Physics, researchers from the B CUBE—Center for Molecular Bioengineering at TU Dresden and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble describe, for the first time, that structural ...
Lithium is an energy-critical element that has become a geopolitically significant resource. However, the supply of lithium may not be enough to meet continuously increasing demand. As a result, scientists are looking for ...
Modern life relies heavily on plastics, even though their petroleum-based production creates serious environmental challenges. Industry currently lacks sustainable alternatives due to their limited mechanical properties or ...
Nacre, the iridescent material that lines mollusk shells such as mother-of-pearl and abalone, has long been a prized find of beachcombers and shell collectors, due to the natural beauty and variety of color that can be found ...
Nowadays there is no getting away from plastics. We are producing over 300 million tons of plastic every year, over 40% of which is manufactured into films for packaging. Many of these plastic film products, such as plastic ...
Ice-templating is a powerful technique to construct biological materials using ice nucleation and growth to obtain frozen material architectures, but scientists have been unable to control these two factors with effective ...
In the summer, many people enjoy walks along the beach looking for seashells. Among the most prized are those that contain iridescent mother of pearl (also known as nacre) inside. But many beachcombers would be surprised ...
Nacre—the iridescent part of mollusk shells—is a poster child for biologically inspired design. Despite being made of brittle chalk, the intricately layered microstructure of nacre gives it a remarkable ability to resist ...
