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

Nature Communications
Christophe A MonnierJ Herbert Waite

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.

References

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Citations

Sep 10, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Noy CohenMegan T Valentine
Sep 17, 2020·Soft Matter·Justin H BernsteinMegan T Valentine
Aug 6, 2020·Nature Communications·Yiran LiPhillip B Messersmith
Jun 17, 2020·Science Advances·Eric ValoisJ Herbert Waite
Aug 3, 2021·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Esther Amstad, Matthew J Harrington
Aug 14, 2019·Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids·Eric ValoisJ Herbert Waite
Oct 6, 2021·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Younghoon KwonMegan T Valentine

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
atomic
transmission electron microscopy
AFM
electron tomography
electron microscopy

Software Mentioned

ImageJ
eTomo
OriginLabs
Origin
IMOD
AppNano

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