Material properties of brachiopod shell ultrastructure by nanoindentation.

ABSTRACT: Mineral-producing organisms exert exquisite control on all aspects of biomineral production. Among shell-bearing organisms, a wide range of mineral fabrics are developed reflecting diverse modes of life that require different material properties. Our knowledge of how biomineral structures relate to material properties is still limited because it requires the determination of these properties on a detailed scale. Nanoindentation, mostly applied in engineering and materials science, is used here to assess, at the microstructural level, material properties of two calcite brachiopods living in the same environment but with different modes of life and shell ultrastructure. Values of hardness (H) and the Young modulus of elasticity (E) are determined by nanoindentation. In brachiopod shells, cal

SUBMITTER: Perez-Huerta A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2358955 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature