Direct electron detection for EBSD of low symmetry & beam sensitive ceramics.

Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) is a powerful tool for determining the orientations of near-surface grains in engineering materials. However, many ceramics present challenges for routine EBSD data collection and indexing due to small grain sizes, high crack densities, beam and charge sensitivities, low crystal symmetries, and pseudo-symmetric pattern variants. Micro-cracked monoclinic hafnia, tetragonal hafnon, and hafnia/hafnon composites exhibit all such features, and are used in the present work to show the efficacy of a novel workflow based on a direct detecting EBSD sensor and a state-of-the-art pattern indexing approach.

Tough Multimaterial Interfaces through Wavelength-Selective 3D Printing.

Strong and well-engineered interfaces between dissimilar materials are a hallmark of natural systems but have proven difficult to emulate in synthetic materials, where interfaces often act as points of failure. In this work, curing reactions that are triggered by exposure to different wavelengths of visible light are used to produce multimaterial objects with tough, well-defined interfaces between chemically distinct domains. Longer-wavelength (green) light selectively initiates acrylate-based radical polymerization, while shorter-wavelength (blue) light results in the simultaneous formation of epoxy and acrylate networks through orthogonal cationic and radical processes.

Solution Mask Liquid Lithography (SMaLL) for One-Step, Multimaterial 3D Printing.

A novel methodology for printing 3D objects with spatially resolved mechanical and chemical properties is reported. Photochromic molecules are used to control polymerization through coherent bleaching fronts, providing large depths of cure and rapid build rates without the need for moving parts. The coupling of these photoswitches with resin mixtures containing orthogonal photo-crosslinking systems allows simultaneous and selective curing of multiple networks, providing access to 3D objects with chemically and mechanically distinct domains.

Insight into 3D micro-CT data: exploring segmentation algorithms through performance metrics.

Three-dimensional (3D) micro-tomography (µ-CT) has proven to be an important imaging modality in industry and scientific domains. Understanding the properties of material structure and behavior has produced many scientific advances. An important component of the 3D µ-CT pipeline is image partitioning (or image segmentation), a step that is used to separate various phases or components in an image.

High-temperature materials testing with full-field strain measurement: experimental design and practice.

Experimental characterization of the thermomechanical response of ceramic composites at very high temperatures is plagued by challenges associated with imaging and strain measurement. The problems involve illumination, heat haze, and surface contrast. Techniques that address these challenges have been developed and implemented in a laser heating facility, enabling non-contact strain measurement via digital image correlation.

The tissue diagnostic instrument.

Tissue mechanical properties reflect extracellular matrix composition and organization, and as such, their changes can be a signature of disease. Examples of such diseases include intervertebral disk degeneration, cancer, atherosclerosis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and tooth decay. Here we introduce the tissue diagnostic instrument (TDI), a device designed to probe the mechanical properties of normal and diseased soft and hard tissues not only in the laboratory but also in patients.

Metals and the integrity of a biological coating: the cuticle of mussel byssus.

The cuticle of mussel byssal threads is a robust natural coating that combines high extensibility with high stiffness and hardness. In this study, fluorescence microscopy and elemental analysis were exploited to show that the 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (dopa) residues of mussel foot protein-1 colocalize with Fe and Ca distributions in the cuticle of Mytilus galloprovincialis mussel byssal threads. Chelated removal of Fe and Ca from the cuticle of intact threads resulted in a 50% reduction in cuticle hardness, and thin sections subjected to the same treatment showed a disruption of cuticle integrity.

The transition from stiff to compliant materials in squid beaks.

The beak of the Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas represents one of the hardest and stiffest wholly organic materials known. As it is deeply embedded within the soft buccal envelope, the manner in which impact forces are transmitted between beak and envelope is a matter of considerable scientific interest. Here, we show that the hydrated beak exhibits a large stiffness gradient, spanning two orders of magnitude from the tip to the base.

Effects of hydration on mechanical properties of a highly sclerotized tissue.

The jaws of the bloodworm Glycera dibranchiata consist principally of protein and melanin scaffolds with small amounts of unmineralized copper (Cu) and mineralized atacamite (Cu(2)Cl(OH)(3)) fibers in distinct regions. Remarkably, when tested in air, the regions containing unmineralized Cu are the hardest, stiffest, and most abrasion resistant. To establish the functions of jaw constituents in physiologically relevant environments, this study examines the effects of hydration on their response to indentation, scratching, and wear.

A nonmineralized approach to abrasion-resistant biomaterials.

The tooth-like mouthparts of some animals consist of biomacromolecular scaffolds with few mineral components, making them intriguing paradigms of biostructural materials. In this study, the abrasion resistance of the jaws of one such animal, the bloodworm Glycera dibranchiata, has been evaluated by nanoindentation, nanoscratching, and wear testing. The hardest, stiffest, and most abrasion-resistant materials are found within a thin (<3 microm) surface layer near the jaw tip and a thicker (10-20 microm) subsurface layer, both rich in unmineralized Cu.

Protective coatings on extensible biofibres.

Formulating effective coatings for use in nano- and biotechnology poses considerable technical challenges. If they are to provide abrasion resistance, coatings must be hard and adhere well to the underlying substrate. High hardness, however, comes at the expense of extensibility.

Hierarchical assembly of the siliceous skeletal lattice of the hexactinellid sponge Euplectella aspergillum.

Despite its inherent mechanical fragility, silica is widely used as a skeletal material in a great diversity of organisms ranging from diatoms and radiolaria to sponges and higher plants. In addition to their micro- and nanoscale structural regularity, many of these hard tissues form complex hierarchically ordered composites. One such example is found in the siliceous skeletal system of the Western Pacific hexactinellid sponge, Euplectella aspergillum.

Jumbo squid beaks: inspiration for design of robust organic composites.

The hard tissues found in some invertebrate marine organisms represent intriguing paradigms for robust, lightweight materials. The present study focuses on one such tissue: that comprising the beak of the jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas). Its main constituents are chitin fibers (15-20wt.

Mineral minimization in nature's alternative teeth.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, mineralization is not the only strategy evolved for the formation of hard, stiff materials. Indeed, the sclerotized mouthparts of marine invertebrates exhibit Young's modulus and hardness approaching 10 and 1 GPa, respectively, with little to no help from mineralization. Based on biochemical analyses, three of these mouthparts, the jaws of glycerid and nereid polychaetes and a squid beak, reveal a largely organic composition dominated by glycine- and histidine-rich proteins.

Halogenated veneers: protein cross-linking and halogenation in the jaws of nereis, a marine polychaete worm.

Mineralized tissues are produced by most living organisms for load and impact functions. In contrast, the jaws of the clam worm, Nereis, are hard without mineralization. However, they are peculiarly rich in halogens, which are associated with a variety of post-translationally modified amino acids, many of which are multiply halogenated by chlorine, bromine, and/or iodine.

Critical role of zinc in hardening of Nereis jaws.

Hardening of invertebrate jaws and mandibles has been previously correlated to diverse, potentially complex modifications. Here we demonstrate directly, for the first time, that Zn plays a critical role in the mechanical properties of histidine-rich Nereis jaws. Using nanoindentation, we show that removal of Zn by chelation decreases both hardness and modulus by over 65%.