Toughening mechanisms in bioinspired multilayered materials

Outstanding mechanical properties of biological multilayered materials are strongly influenced by nanoscale features in their structure. In this study, mechanical behaviour and toughening mechanisms of abalone nacre-inspired multilayered materials are explored. In nacre''s structure, the organic matrix, pillars and the roughness of the aragonite platelets play important roles in its overall mechanical performance. A micromechanical model for multilayered biological materials is proposed to simulate their mechanical deformation and toughening mechanisms. The fundamental hypothesis of the model is the inclusion of nanoscale pillars with near theoretical strength (σ_th ~ E/30). It is also assumed that pillars and asperities confine the organic matrix to the proximity of the platelets, and, hence, increase their stiffness, since it has been previously shown that the organic matrix behaves more stiffly in the proximity of mineral platelets. The modelling results are in excellent agreement with the available experimental data for abalone nacre. The results demonstrate that the aragonite platelets, pillars and organic matrix synergistically affect the stiffness of nacre, and the pillars significantly contribute to the mechanical performance of nacre. It is also shown that the roughness induced interactions between the organic matrix and aragonite platelet, represented in the model by asperity elements, play a key role in strength and toughness of abalone nacre. The highly nonlinear behaviour of the proposed multilayered material is the result of distributed deformation in the nacre-like structure due to the existence of nano-asperities and nanopillars with near theoretical strength. Finally, tensile toughness is studied as a function of the components in the microstructure of nacre.     

Structural Design Elements in Biological Materials: Application to Bioinspiration

Eight structural elements in biological materials are identified as the most common amongst a variety of animal taxa. These are proposed as a new paradigm in the field of biological materials science as they can serve as a toolbox for rationalizing the complex mechanical behavior of structural biological materials and for systematizing the development of bioinspired designs for structural applications. They are employed to improve the mechanical properties, namely strength, wear resistance, stiffness, flexibility, fracture toughness, and energy absorption of different biological materials for a variety of functions (e.g., body support, joint movement, impact protection, weight reduction). The structural elements identified are: fibrous, helical, gradient, layered, tubular, cellular, suture, and overlapping. For each of the structural design elements, critical design parameters are presented along with constitutive equations with a focus on mechanical properties. Additionally, example organisms from varying biological classes are presented for each case to display the wide variety of environments where each of these elements is present. Examples of current bioinspired materials are also introduced for each element.     

γ-TiAl基合金的韧化机理及途径

通过金属间化合物TiAl合金在室温下的三点弯曲卸载实验的剖面观察,分析了TiAl基合金的韧化机制.实验结果表明:裂纹尖端的超钝化、裂纹尖端的分叉、沿层偏转,形成很多显微裂纹区,裂纹停在层位相与裂纹扩展方向不利的障碍晶粒边界处以及障碍晶粒与γ晶粒的晶粒边界,这些现象都减少了裂纹扩展的动力,因此使得裂纹扩展比较困难,引起材料的韧化.在此基础上阐述了提高TiAl合金强韧性的主要途径.     

Bioinspired Materials with Self-Adaptable Mechanical Properties

Natural structural materials, such as bone, can autonomously modulate their mechanical properties in response to external loading to prevent failure. These material systems smartly control the addition/removal of material in locations of high/low mechanical stress by utilizing local resources guided by biological signals. On the contrary, synthetic structural materials have unchanging mechanical properties limiting their mechanical performance and service life. Inspired by the mineralization process of bone, a material system that adapts its mechanical properties in response to external mechanical loading is reported. It is found that charges from piezoelectric scaffolds can induce mineralization from surrounding media. It is shown that the material system can adapt to external mechanical loading by inducing mineral deposition in proportion to the magnitude of the stress and the resulting piezoelectric charges. Moreover, the mineralization mechanism allows a simple one-step route for fabricating functionally graded materials by controlling the stress distribution along the scaffold. The findings can pave the way for a new class of self-regenerating materials that reinforce regions of high stress or induce deposition of minerals on the damaged areas from the increase in mechanical stress to prevent/mitigate failure. It is envisioned that the findings can contribute to addressing the current challenges of synthetic materials for load-bearing applications from self-adaptive capabilities.     

聚乳酸接枝多糖类生物仿生材料的研究进展

聚乳酸与多糖都是生物可降解、生物相容性材料,将聚乳酸的力学性能优越性和多糖的生物学优越性能综合利用起来,设计生物仿生材料是一种制备生物医用材料的新手段。文中综合讨论了聚乳酸与多糖接枝改性的最新研究进展,同时对于这类生物仿生材料目前存在的问题以及前景进行了评估。     

Bio‐Inspired,Smart, Multiscale Interfacial Materials

In this review a strategy for the design of bioinspired, smart, multiscale interfacial (BSMI) materials is presented and put into context with recent progress in the field of BSMI materials spanning natural to artificial to reversibly stimuli‐sensitive interfaces. BSMI materials that respond to single/dual/multiple external stimuli, e.g., light, pH, electrical fields, and so on, can switch reversibly between two entirely opposite properties. This article utilizes hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity as an example to demonstrate the feasibility of the design strategy, which may also be extended to other properties, for example, conductor/insulator, p‐type/n‐type semiconductor, or ferromagnetism/anti‐ferromagnetism, for the design of other BSMI materials in the future.     

Toughening Mechanisms in Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced Amorphous Carbon Matrix Composites

Crack deflection and penetration at the interface of multi-wall carbon nanotube/amorphous carbon composites were studied via molecular dynamics simulations. In-situ strength of double-wall nanotubes bridging a matrix crack was calculated under various interfacial conditions. The structure of the nanotube reinforcement -ideal multi-wall vs. multi-wall with interwall sp³ bonding - influences the interfacial sliding and crack penetration. When the nanotube/matrix interface is strong, matrix crack penetrates the outermost layer of nanotubes but it deflects within the nanotubes with certain sp³ interwall bond density, resulting in inner wall pullout. With increasing the sp³ interwall bond density, the fracture mode becomes brittle; the fracture energy decrease while the bridging strength increases and then decreases. Our results suggest that the outermost nanotube wall can serve as a sacrificial layer such that the interface may be designed by effectively putting it inside the nanotubes. Controlling the density of sp³ interwall bond within the multiwall carbon nanotube makes the transition from brittle to tough failure modes in the composites even when the matrix/nanotube interface is strong.     

陶瓷材料相转变增韧的研究进展

介绍了几种相转变韧化机制，主要包括ZrO2相变增韧、铁电／压电性畴转变增韧、铁弹性畴转变增韧的增韧机理和研究进展。提出一种新的相转变增韧机制——铁磁性畴转变增韧机制，即利用铁磁相的磁畴转变或压磁效应来实现能量耗散，从而达到增韧效果，探讨了其可能性。     

Bioinspired Synthesis of Monolithic and Layered Aerogels

Aerogels are the least dense and most porous materials known to man, with potential applications from lightweight superinsulators to smart energy materials. To date their use has been seriously hampered by their synthesis methods, which are laborious and expensive. Taking inspiration from the life cycle of the damselfly, a novel ambient pressure‐drying approach is demonstrated in which instead of employing low‐surface‐tension organic solvents to prevent pore collapse during drying, sodium bicarbonate solution is used to generate pore‐supporting carbon dioxide in situ, significantly reducing energy, time, and cost in aerogel production. The generic applicability of this readily scalable new approach is demonstrated through the production of granules, monoliths, and layered solids with a number of precursor materials.     

Flourishing Bioinspired Antifogging Materials with Superwettability: Progresses and Challenges

Antifogging (AF) structure materials found in nature have great potential for enabling novel and emerging products and technologies to facilitate the daily life of human societies, attracting enormous research interests owing to their potential applications in display devices, traffics, agricultural greenhouse, food packaging, solar products, and other fields. The outstanding performance of biological AF surfaces encourages the rapid development and wide application of new AF materials. In fact, AF properties are inextricably associated with their surface superwettability. Generally, the superwettability of AF materials depends on a combination of their surface geometrical structures and surface chemical compositions. To explore their general design principles, recent progresses in the investigation of bioinspired AF materials are summarized herein. Recent developments of the mechanism, fabrication, and applications of bioinspired AF materials with superwettability are also a focus. This includes information on constructing superwetting AF materials based on designing the topographical structure and regulating the surface chemical composition. Finally, the remaining challenges and promising breakthroughs in this field are also briefly discussed.     

仿生超疏水表面的发展及其应用研究进展

受自然界荷叶 “出淤泥而不染”的启发, 超疏水现象引起了研究者广泛的关注, 并成功制备了人工超疏水表面。本文对典型的仿生超疏水材料进行梳理, 并针对近期研究成果进行了综述, 对超疏水涂层的诸多制备方法作了优缺点总结和评述, 概述了超疏水涂层在自清洁、防覆冰、耐腐蚀和油水分离领域的应用研究现状, 尤其对超疏水防覆冰的机理及实现方式作了总结分析, 剖析了现阶段超疏水研究过程中面临的挑战, 展望了未来的发展趋势, 希望为超疏水涂层在工程领域的应用研究提供参考。     

贝壳珍珠母增韧机理研究进展

基于国内外对贝壳材料微结构研究的实验照片与力学性能的研究成果,描述了贝壳珍珠母独特的微观结构,包括无机层与有机基质层"砖-泥"式交错层叠结构、文石层波纹表面和文石表面纳米凸起与矿物桥结构等,同时也揭示了贝壳珍珠母微结构对其韧性的增强机理。对国内力学家近年来提出的微观结构"缺陷不敏感"增韧理论进行了理论阐述。     

多尺度材料模型研究及应用

在分别介绍宏观,介观,微观,原子和电子尺度材料模型研究的基础上,论述了多尺度材料模型（MMM）这一新兴的跨学科的前沿研究领域产生的前提,概念主其在材料科学,特别是在宏观形变及新断裂过程研究中的重要作用,综合分析了多种跨尺度关联方法的原理,技术方案及其应用,并探讨了当前多尺度研究的热点及进一步发展的方向。     

Bioinspired Interfacial Materials with Enhanced Drop Mobility: From Fundamentals to Multifunctional Applications

The development of bioinspired interfacial materials with enhanced drop mobility that mimic the innate functionalities of nature will have a significant impact on the energy, environment and global healthcare. Despite extensive progress, state of the art interfacial materials have not reached the level of maturity sufficient for industrial applications in terms of scalability, stability, and reliability. These are complicated by their operating environments and lack of facile approaches to control the local structural texture and chemical composition at multiple length scales. The recent advances in the fundamental understanding are reviewed, as well as practical applications of bioinspired interfacial materials, with an emphasis on the drop bouncing and coalescence‐induced jumping behaviors. Perspectives on how to catalyze new discoveries and to foster technological adoption to move this exciting area forward are also suggested.     

Bioinspired Infrared Sensing Materials and Systems

Bioinspired engineering offers a promising alternative approach in accelerating the development of many man‐made systems. Next‐generation infrared (IR) sensing systems can also benefit from such nature‐inspired approach. The inherent compact and uncooled operation of biological IR sensing systems provides ample inspiration for the engineering of portable and high‐performance artificial IR sensing systems. This review overviews the current understanding of the biological IR sensing systems, most of which are thermal‐based IR sensors that rely on either bolometer‐like or photomechanic sensing mechanism. The existing efforts inspired by the biological IR sensing systems and possible future bioinspired approaches in the development of new IR sensing systems are also discussed in the review. Besides these biological IR sensing systems, other biological systems that do not have IR sensing capabilities but can help advance the development of engineered IR sensing systems are also discussed, and the related engineering efforts are overviewed as well. Further efforts in understanding the biological IR sensing systems, the learning from the integration of multifunction in biological systems, and the reduction of barriers to maximize the multidiscipline collaborations are needed to move this research field forward.