Crystals (Nov 2021)

Texture of the Freshwater Shells from the Unionidae Family Collected in the Czech Republic Investigated by X-ray and Neutron Diffraction

  • Monika Kučeráková,
  • Jan Rohlíček,
  • Stanislav Vratislav,
  • Markéta Jarošová,
  • Ladislav Kalvoda,
  • Dmitry Nikolayev,
  • Tatiana Lychagina,
  • Karel Douda

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11121483
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 12
p. 1483

Abstract

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Bivalve shells exhibit extreme mechanical resistance despite using a minimal amount of material. The shells thus represent an inspiration and a source of information for environmental, geological, and engineering sciences. In this study, two species of freshwater shells from the Unionidae family, collected in the Czech Luznice River, were investigated with respect to their crystallographic preferred orientation by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction. The observed texture was found to be of a strongly uniaxial type, with the strength increasing along the shell growth direction. The c-axis of aragonite does not change during growth and its alignment remains perpendicular to the outer surface of the shell

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