Document of bibliographic reference 300487

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Intertidal exposure favors the soft-studded armor of adaptive mussel coatings

Abstract

The mussel cuticle, a thin layer that shields byssal threads from environmental exposure, is a model among high-performance coatings for being both hard and hyper-extensible. However, despite avid interest in translating its features into an engineered material, the mechanisms underlying this performance are manifold and incompletely understood. To deepen our understanding of this biomaterial, we explore here the ultrastructural, scratch-resistant, and mechanical features at the submicrometer scale and relate our observations to individual cuticular components. These investigations show that cuticle nanomechanics are governed by granular microinclusions/nanoinclusions, which, contrary to previous interpretations, are three-fold softer than the surrounding matrix. This adaptation, which is found across several related mussel species, is linked to the level of hydration and presumed to maintain bulk performance during tidal exposures. Given the interest in implementing transfer of biological principles to modern materials, these findings may have noteworthy implications for the design of durable synthetic coatings.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000442594800026

Bibliographic citation

Monnier, C.A.; DeMartini, D.G.; Waite, J.H. (2018). Intertidal exposure favors the soft-studded armor of adaptive mussel coatings. Nature Comm. 9(1): 3424. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05952-5

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true