Investigating the Morphology and Mechanics of Biogenic Hierarchical Materials at and below Micrometer Scale
Mohammad Soleimani,
Sten J. J. van den Broek,
Rick R. M. Joosten,
Laura S. van Hazendonk,
Sai P. Maddala,
Lambert C. A. van Breemen,
Rolf A. T. M. van Benthem,
Heiner Friedrich
Affiliations
Mohammad Soleimani
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 5, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Sten J. J. van den Broek
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polymer Technology, Materials Technology Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 15, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Rick R. M. Joosten
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 5, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Laura S. van Hazendonk
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 5, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Sai P. Maddala
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 5, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Lambert C. A. van Breemen
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polymer Technology, Materials Technology Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 15, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Rolf A. T. M. van Benthem
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 5, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Heiner Friedrich
Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Center for Multiscale Electron Microscopy, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology, Groene Loper 5, 5612 AE Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Investigating and understanding the intrinsic material properties of biogenic materials, which have evolved over millions of years into admirable structures with difficult to mimic hierarchical levels, holds the potential of replacing trial-and-error-based materials optimization in our efforts to make synthetic materials of similarly advanced complexity and properties. An excellent example is biogenic silica which is found in the exoskeleton of unicellular photosynthetic algae termed diatoms. Because of the complex micro- and nanostructures found in their exoskeleton, determining the intrinsic mechanical properties of biosilica in diatoms has only partly been accomplished. Here, a general method is presented in which a combination of in situ deformation tests inside an SEM with a realistic 3D model of the frustule of diatom Craspedostauros sp. (C. sp.) obtained by electron tomography, alongside finite element method (FEM) simulations, enables quantification of the Young’s modulus (E = 2.3 ± 0.1 GPa) of this biogenic hierarchical silica. The workflow presented can be readily extended to other diatom species, biominerals, or even synthetic hierarchical materials.
