Seashell Inspired Glass Developed By McGill University Will Bend But Won't Crack
Worrying about shattered glass and broken glass shards may well be a thing of past! Researchers are aiming for a glass that does not shatter when dropped but simply bends and becomes slightly deformed. Glass breaks on impact due to it's property of being brittle and as one may have experienced, glass shards are often dangerous.
These scientists, from McGill University, Canada, headed by Professor Francois Barthelat, Mechanical Engineering Department, were inspired by the mechanics of natural structures like molluscs and seashells. Prof. Barthelat said that 95% of mollusc shell is chalk, which is itself very brittle in it's pure form. However, he added, the nacre (a.k.a. mother of pearl, which forms the inner shell of mollusc and the outer shell of pearl) is like miniature Lego building blocks which guarantees it's toughness. In fact, people have been studying these unique natural structures from past 20 years. Nacre has shown properties of being strong, resilient and that of being iridescent.
Nacre (Image Source: Wikipedia)
Previous attempts to artificially re-create nacre have been challenging; most notable being one at University of Cambridge where scientists re-created calcium based nacre by imitating it's natural growth process. Prof. Barthelat and his team chose to study the 'weak' boundaries found in natural substances (like nacre) and then use lasers in order to engrave networks of 3D micro-cracks in glass to achieve these 'weak' boundaries or edges. Dramatically, the toughness such glass slides increased 200 times than that of normal glass slides. Motivated by their findings, this team now plans to incorporate ceramics and polymers in their future studies. The complete paper, titled: "Overcoming the brittleness of glass through bio-inspiration and micro-architecture" by F. Barthelat et al can be read at #-Link-Snipped-#.
Indeed, the enigma of nature will never cease to amaze and motivate us, as quoted by William Wordsworth, "Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
Source: <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/glass-bends-doesn%E2%80%99t-break-232659" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Glass that bends but doesn’t break | Newsroom - McGill University</a>
These scientists, from McGill University, Canada, headed by Professor Francois Barthelat, Mechanical Engineering Department, were inspired by the mechanics of natural structures like molluscs and seashells. Prof. Barthelat said that 95% of mollusc shell is chalk, which is itself very brittle in it's pure form. However, he added, the nacre (a.k.a. mother of pearl, which forms the inner shell of mollusc and the outer shell of pearl) is like miniature Lego building blocks which guarantees it's toughness. In fact, people have been studying these unique natural structures from past 20 years. Nacre has shown properties of being strong, resilient and that of being iridescent.
Nacre (Image Source: Wikipedia)Electron microscope photograph of nacre's structure (Image Source:Wikipedia)
Previous attempts to artificially re-create nacre have been challenging; most notable being one at University of Cambridge where scientists re-created calcium based nacre by imitating it's natural growth process. Prof. Barthelat and his team chose to study the 'weak' boundaries found in natural substances (like nacre) and then use lasers in order to engrave networks of 3D micro-cracks in glass to achieve these 'weak' boundaries or edges. Dramatically, the toughness such glass slides increased 200 times than that of normal glass slides. Motivated by their findings, this team now plans to incorporate ceramics and polymers in their future studies. The complete paper, titled: "Overcoming the brittleness of glass through bio-inspiration and micro-architecture" by F. Barthelat et al can be read at #-Link-Snipped-#.
Indeed, the enigma of nature will never cease to amaze and motivate us, as quoted by William Wordsworth, "Come forth into the light of things, let nature be your teacher."
Source: <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/glass-bends-doesn%E2%80%99t-break-232659" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Glass that bends but doesn’t break | Newsroom - McGill University</a>
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