Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:03:54.811Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Micromechanical properties of biological silica in skeletons of deep-sea sponges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2006

Alexander Woesz
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany
James C. Weaver
Affiliation:
Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies and the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5100
Murat Kazanci
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany
Yannicke Dauphin
Affiliation:
UMR 8148 IDES, Universite Paris XI-Orsay, 91405 Orsay cedex, France
Joanna Aizenberg
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
Daniel E. Morse
Affiliation:
Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologiesand the Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5100
Peter Fratzl*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, D-14424 Potsdam, Germany
*
a) Address all correspondence to this author. e-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The silica skeleton of the deep-sea sponge Euplectella aspergillum was recently shown to be structured over at least six levels of hierarchy with a clear mechanical functionality. In particular, the skeleton is built of laminated spicules that consist of alternating layers of silica and organic material. In the present work, we investigated the micromechanical properties of the composite material in spicules of Euplectella aspergillum and the giant anchor spicule of Monorhaphis chuni. Organic layers were visualized by backscattered electron imaging in the environmental scanning electron microscope. Raman spectroscopic imaging showed that the organic layers are protein-rich and that there is an OH-enrichment in silica near the central organic filament of the spicule. Small-angle x-ray scattering revealed the presence of nanospheres with a diameter of only 2.8 nm as the basic units of silica. Nanoindentation showed a considerably reduced stiffness of the spicule silica compared to technical quartz glass with different degrees of hydration. Moreover, stiffness and hardness were shown to oscillate as a result of the laminate structure of the spicules. In summary, biogenic silica from deep-sea sponges has reduced stiffness but an architecture providing substantial toughening over that of technical glass, both by structuring at the nanometer and at the micrometer level.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Gehling, J.G., Rigby, J.K.: Long expected sponges from the neoproterozoic ediacara fauna of South Australia. J. Paleontol. 70(2), 185 (1996).Google Scholar
2.Brasier, M., Green, O., Shields, G.: Ediacarian sponge spicule clusters from southwestern Mongolia and the origin of the Cambrian fauna. Geology 25(1997).2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Saito, T., Uchida, I., Takeda, M.: Skeletal growth of the deep-sea hexactinellid sponge Euplectella oweni, and host selection by the symbiotic shrimp Spongicola japonica (Crustacea: Decapoda: Spongicolidae). J. Zool. 258, 521 (2002).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Berggren, M.: Spongiocaris hexactinellicola, a new species of stenopodidean shrimp (Decapoda, Stenopodidae) associated with hexactinellid sponges from Tartar Bank, Bahamas. J. Crustacean Biol. 13, 784 (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Aizenberg, J., Weaver, J.C., Thanawala, M.S., Sundar, V.C., Morse, D.E., Fratzl, P.: Skeleton of Euplectella sp.: Structural hierarchy from the nanoscale to the macroscale. Science 309, 275 (2005).Google Scholar
6.Weaver, J.C., Morse, D.E.: Molecular biology of demosponge axial filaments and their roles in biosilicification. Microsc. Res. Tech. 62, 356 (2003).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Mayer, G.: Rigid biological systems as models for synthetic composites. Science 310(5751), 1144 (2005).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Perry, C.C., Keeling-Tucker, T.: Biosilicification: The role of the organic matrix in structure control. J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 5, 537 (2000).Google Scholar
9.Sarikaya, M., Fong, H., Sunderland, N., Flinn, B.D., Mayer, G., Mescher, A., Gaino, E.: Biomimetic model of a sponge-spicular optical fiber—Mechanical properties and structure. J. Mater. Res. 16(5), 1420 (2001).Google Scholar
10.Walter, S.L., Flinn, B.D. and Mayer, G.: Mechanisms of toughening of a natural rigid composite. Mater. Sci. Eng., C (2005, in press).Google Scholar
11.Schulze, F.E.: Hexactinellida, in Scientific Results of the German Deep-Sea Expedition with the Steamboat, “Valdivia” 1898-1899 edited by Chun, C. (Verlag Gustav Fischer, Jena, Germany, 1904).Google Scholar
12.Guinier, A., Fournet, G.: Small-Single Scattering of X-rays (Wiley, New York, 1955).Google Scholar
13.Fratzl, P.: Small-angle scattering in materials science—A short review of applications in alloys, ceramics and composite materials. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 36, 397 (2003).Google Scholar
14.Oliver, W.C., Pharr, G.M.: An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic-modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments. J. Mater. Res. 7, 1564 (1992).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Pelton, J.T., McLean, L.R.: Spectroscopic methods for analysis of protein secondary structure. Anal. Biochem. 277(2), 167 (2000).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.de Carmejane, O., Morris, M.D., Davis, M.K., Stixrude, L., Tecklenburg, M., Rajachar, R.M., Kohn, D.H.: Bone chemical structure response to mechanical stress studied by high pressure Raman spectroscopy. Calcif. Tissue Int. 76(3), 207 (2005).Google Scholar
17.Gailliez-Degremont, E., Bacquet, M., Laureyns, J., Morcellet, M.: Polyamines adsorbed onto silica gel: A Raman microprobe analysis. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 65, 871 (1997).Google Scholar
18.Aizenberg, J., Sundar, V.C., Yablon, A.D., Weaver, J.C., Chen, G.: Biological glass fibers: Correlation between optical and structural properties. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 3358 (2004).Google Scholar
19.Sundar, V.C., Yablon, A.D., Grazul, J.L., Ilan, M., Aizenberg, J.: Fibre-optical features of a glass sponge—Some superior technological secrets have come to light from a deep-sea organism. Nature 424, 899 (2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Levi, C., Barton, J.L., Guillemet, C., Lebras, E., Lehuede, P.: A remarkably strong natural glassy rod—The anchoring spicule of the Monorhaphis sponge. J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 8, 337 (1989).Google Scholar
21.Rokas, A., Kruger, D., Carroll, S.B.: Animal evolution and the molecular signature of radiations compressed in time. Science 310, 1933 (2005).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Weibull, W.: A statistical distribution function of wide applicability. J. Appl. Mech. Trans. ASME 18(3), 293 (1951).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Fratzl, P., Gupta, H.S., Paschalis, E.P., Roschger, P.: Structure and mechanical quality of the collagen-mineral nano-composite in bone. J. Mater. Chem. 14, 2115 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar