Ordering of self-assembled nanobiominerals in correlation to mechanical properties of hard tissues

Journal Article · Mon Apr 18 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1906295· OSTI ID:20702377

Huaidong, Jiang; Xiangyang, Liu; Lim, Chwee T; Hsu, Chin Y ^[1]

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1. Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3 (Singapore)

Biominerals in the hard tissues of many organisms exhibit superior mechanical properties due to their unique hierarchical nanostructures. In this article, we show the microstructure of human tooth enamel examined by position-resolved small-angle x-ray scattering and electron microscopy. It is found that the degree of ordering of the biominerals varies strikingly within the dental sample. Combined with nanoindentation, our results show that both the hardness and the elastic modulus increase predominantly with the ordering of the biomineral crystallites. This can be attributed to the fact that the ordered structure helps sustain a more complex mechanical stress.

• OSTI ID: 20702377
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 86, Issue 16; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.1906295; (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
CORRELATIONS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELECTRON MICROSCOPY
ENAMELS
HARDNESS
MAN
MICROSTRUCTURE
NANOSTRUCTURES
SMALL ANGLE SCATTERING
STRESSES
TEETH
X-RAY DIFFRACTION