Premium
How Nature Modulates a Fiber's Mechanical Properties: Mechanically Distinct Fibers Drawn from Natural Mesogenic Block Copolymer Variants
Author(s) -
Harrington Matthew J.,
Waite J. Herbert
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200801072
Subject(s) - copolymer , materials science , polymer science , stiffness , block (permutation group theory) , fiber , composite material , mesogen , deformation (meteorology) , natural (archaeology) , nanotechnology , computer science , polymer , biology , geometry , mathematics , liquid crystalline , paleontology
Mussel byssal threads are functionally graded biological fibers adapted for tethering the soft tissue of the organism (∼1 MPa) to hard surfaces !(25 GPa) in the rocky seashore. A stiffness gradient mitigates contact deformation and is defined by an incrementally regulated distribution of two protein block copolymer variants with stiff and pliable domains, respectively.