Nacre

Images: 1) Interior of nautilus shell and 2) artificial nacre (inset)

1) Credit: K.S. Matz
NSF funded: NO

2) Inset: Scanning electron micrograph of artificial nacre developed by researchers at Oklahoma State University and Digital Instruments/Veeco. One micron is one millionth of a meter. Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, is renowned for its strength and flexibility. Chemists supported by the National Science Foundation have taken natural nacre as their model to create a lightweight, artificial material, shown in the inset picture. Fashioned at the nanoscale, this material could have ultimate application in aircraft and artificial bones.

Credit: Tang, Z.; Kolov, N.A. et al.; Nanostructured Artificial Nacre, Nature Materials, 2003, 2(6), 413-418
NSF funded: Yes

External and Internal permission for both images

Website: http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0360.htm

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