Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 4, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3634
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Funding
- Mechanical Behavior of Materials Program at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory by the Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering of the US Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
- Department of Energy under the same Office of Science contract
- University of California Lab Research Program [09-LR-06-118456-MEYM]
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien
- Division Of Materials Research [1006931] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Arapaima gigas, a fresh water fish found in the Amazon Basin, resist predation by piranhas through the strength and toughness of their scales, which act as natural dermal armour. Arapaima scales consist of a hard, mineralized outer shell surrounding a more ductile core. This core region is composed of aligned mineralized collagen fibrils arranged in distinct lamellae. Here we show how the Bouligand-type (twisted plywood) arrangement of collagen fibril lamellae has a key role in developing their unique protective properties, by using in situ synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering during mechanical tensile tests to observe deformation mechanisms in the fibrils. Specifically, the Bouligand-type structure allows the lamellae to reorient in response to the loading environment; remarkably, most lamellae reorient towards the tensile axis and deform in tension through stretching/sliding mechanisms, whereas other lamellae sympathetically rotate away from the tensile axis and compress, thereby enhancing the scale's ductility and toughness to prevent fracture.
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