Jun 28 2019
Scientists have designed a new ductile yet tough glass inspired by the properties of nacre — the opalescent biological composite found within seashells.
The mother-of-pearl-bio-inspired material is extremely impact-resistant and more than doubles the impact tolerance of broadly used tempered and laminated glass, without compromising any of the unique qualities that make glass one of the most universal materials of man’s daily life.
Prized for its thermal, optical, chemical, electrical, and mechanical properties, glass is found in a wide range of things, from skyscrapers to mobile phones. However, for all these strengths, glass is an innately brittle material.
While tempered and laminated glasses can be more impact-resistant than conventional glass, these materials also commonly lack the toughness essential for applications in which material failure causes severe consequences.
To develop a superior glass, Zhen Yin and colleagues studied nacre, the naturally impact-resistant material found in the shells of mollusks, which protects their soft bodies from powerful predator jaws. The key to the natural toughness of the material is found in its unique construction.
Nacre is built like a brick wall and is made up of stacked layers of microscopic mineral tablets bonded by biopolymers, which can slide against one another when exposed to stress.
Yin et al. designed a laminated glass with comparable features using borosilicate glass sheets that were layered and bonded using a synthetic ethylene-vinyl acetate. By imitating the "tablet sliding mechanism" of nacre, large volumes of applied mechanical energy — which would otherwise cause glass to break — can be dissipated.
According to the outcomes, the nacre-like glass is two to three times more impact-resistant than tempered and laminated glass. In a related viewpoint, Kyriaki Datsiou talks about the boundaries of the new glass and avenues wherein it could be further developed.