Understanding the influence of structural hierarchy and its coupling with chemical environment on the strength of idealized tropocollagen–hydroxyapatite biomaterials

Interfacial Forces and Interfaces in Hard Biomaterial Mechanics

“…Resulting nanoscale interfacial interactions between TC and HAP phases is a strong determinant of the strength of such materials. Recent works by Dubey and Tomar [10,20,77,78] present a mechanistic understanding of such interfacial interactions by examining idealized TC and HAP interfacial biomaterials. A three-dimensional atomistic modeling framework is developed, which combines both organic and inorganic cells together to form a supercell as shown in Figure 13.5.…”

“…are important determinants of the structure-function property relationship of biomaterials and influence the mechanical strength substantially [14][15][16]. Such biological materials have been reviewed in appreciable detail, in the context of their hierarchical structure, material properties, and failure mechanisms [3,[17][18][19]].…”

“…This understanding is vital for selecting appropriate constituents, their size scales, and their relative arrangements, which in turn is governed by the functional requirements of the composite materials. For example, a three-dimensional (3D) explicit atomistic failure analyses of model TC-HAP interfacial biomaterial (similar to material found in bone tissues) performed at the nanoscopic length scale [10,20]) have pointed out that maximizing the contact area between the TC and HAP phases result in higher interfacial strength as well as higher fracture strength. Analyses have also shown that high toughness and strain-hardening behavior of such biomaterial is due to reconstitution of columbic interactions between TC and HAP surfaces during interfacial sliding due to mechanical deformation.…”

“…Analyses have also shown that high toughness and strain-hardening behavior of such biomaterial is due to reconstitution of columbic interactions between TC and HAP surfaces during interfacial sliding due to mechanical deformation. Recently, it has also been shown that changes in the residue sequences of TC molecules at the interface can affect the material mechanical strength considerably [14][15][16]21]. Furthermore, it has been shown earlier that moisture can play a major role in affecting the strength of such hybrid interfaces in biological materials [22][23][24][25].…”

Optimized nanoscale composite behaviour in limpet teeth

“…Understanding the mechanical performance of these biological composites can often be achieved by applying theories developed for man-made composite materials. For example, bone has been extensively studied with a number of works applying composite mechanics concepts to quantify deformation at protein-mineral interfaces [1][2][3], elastic behaviour [4], failure [5,6] and toughness from structural orientation effects [7]. Indeed, toughness in biological materials has been extensively studied in layered structures [8][9][10][11] and provides pathways for constructing synthetic materials incorporating the sometimes remarkable mechanical properties of their biological equivalents [12,13].…”