The shrimp of the mantis are quite a terrible enemy. While neither shrimp nor mantis yet, this marine crab, about 10 centimeters (4 inches) long, has incredible eyes that can see cancer, and a club-like hand that can throw the fastest sticks into the ocean.
We talk 23 yards per second, and produce 1,500 newtons of power per punch.
“Remember to hit a wall a few thousand times at those speeds and not break your fist,” said materials scientist David Kisailus of the University of California.
“That’s pretty impressive, and it got us thinking about how this could be.”
Upon closer inspection, the team found something amazing – discovering that the mantis shrimp has an impressively durable nanoparticle coating that can leave it blunt with smoke-free, while the coating does the hard work of absorbing and dissipating energy.
In case you missed the hype about these little punching machines, some types of mantis shrimp have the ability to use their clay like a spring-loaded hammer.
In a split second, these ‘smashers’ (yep, that’s the technical term) hit their hard prey, like snails and crabs, to open tough mollusk shells like they were eggs.
This is all known. Previous research has looked at ways the club is so effective, and some studies have even used the mantis shrimp to inspire completely new material.
“These studies showed that a helicoidal regulation of mineralized alpha-chitin fibers combined with a herringbone architecture, resulting from a mineralization gradient, can propagate and propagate speech,” the team explained in a new paper.
Although the previously mentioned studies provide insight into the mechanisms of hardening in the club, the effects of multiple effects of high strain rate, similar to those encountered in the natural environment of the mantis shrimp, are not yet known. “
The team used transmission electron and atomic force microscopy to obtain an exceptional close-up look at the surface of the peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus) club, and found that the coating is made of a dense matrix of a mineral called hydroxyapatite formed in a nanocrystalline structure.
When the club is hit against a surface, the hydroxyapatite rotates itself, but the nanocrystalline structure breaks and then gradually reforms.
“At relatively low voltage figures, the particles deform almost like a marshmallow and recover when the voltage is released,” says Kisailus, while at high voltage, “the particles stiffen and break at the nanocrystalline interfaces. If you break something, you are new open surfaces that dissipate significant amounts of energy. “
This mechanism is really impressive, and kills a lot of engineered materials in stiffness and damping, and it may have some unusual applications in the future.
“It’s a rare combination that is better than most metals and technical ceramics,” Kisailus said.
“We can propose ways to construct similar particles to add improved protective surfaces for use in cars, airplanes, football helmets and body armor.”
The study was published in Natural materials.
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