Inspired by deep sea sponges: Creating flexible minerals

Scientists imitate the skeleton of natural sea sponges to produce a flexible mineral

2013-03-15

(Press-News.org) Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Germany have created a new synthetic hybrid material with a mineral content of almost 90 percent, yet extremely flexible. They imitated the structural elements found in most sea sponges and recreated the sponge spicules using the natural mineral calcium carbonate and a protein of the sponge. Natural minerals are usually very hard and prickly, as fragile as porcelain. Amazingly, the synthetic spicules are superior to their natural counterparts in terms of flexibility, exhibiting a rubber-like flexibility. The synthetic spicules can, for example, easily be U-shaped without breaking or showing any signs of fracture This highly unusual characteristic, described by the German researchers in the current issue of Science, is mainly due to the part of organic substances in the new hybrid material. It is about ten times as much as in natural spicules.

Spicules are structural elements found in most sea sponges. They provide structural support and deter predators. They are very hard, prickly, and even quite difficult to cut with a knife. The spicules of sponges thus offer a perfect example of a lightweight, tough, and impenetrable defense system, which may inspire engineers to create body armors of the future.

The researchers led by Wolfgang Tremel, Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and Hans-Jürgen Butt, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz, used these natural sponge spicules as a model to cultivate them in the lab. The synthetic spicules were made from calcite (CaCO3) and silicatein-α. The latter is a protein from siliceous sponges that, in nature, catalyzes the formation of silica, which forms the natural silica spicules of sponges. Silicatein-α was used in the lab setting to control the self-organization of the calcite spicules. The synthetic material was self-assembled from an amorphous calcium carbonate intermediate and silicatein and subsequently aged to the final crystalline material. After six months, the synthetic spicules consisted of calcite nanocrystals aligned in a brick wall fashion with the protein embedded like cement in the boundaries between the calcite nanocrystals. The spicules were of 10 to 300 micrometers in length with a diameter of 5 to 10 micrometers.

As the scientists, among them chemists, polymer researchers, and the molecular biologist Professor Werner E. G. Müller from the Mainz University Medical Center, also write in their Science publication, the synthetic spicules have yet another special characteristic, i.e., they are able to transmit light waves even when they are bent.

### Images: http://www.uni-mainz.de/bilder_presse/09_anorganische_chemie_flexmin1.jpg The fracture properties of spicules were probed with a micromanipulator and recorded in-situ with a scanning electron microscope for natural (i-vi) and synthetic spicules (vii-xii). The synthetic spicule (vii-xii) did not fracture even under extreme loading and deformation conditions (xi) that lead to plastic deformation. source: Tremel work group, JGU

http://www.uni-mainz.de/bilder_presse/09_anorganische_chemie_flexmin2.jpg The nanometer size of the calcite bricks facilitates bending of the synthetic spicules. The radius of curvature upon bending is very large compared to the size of the individual particles. This prevents a fracture of the brittle mineral bricks. source: Tremel work group, JGU

Publication: Filipe Natalio, Tomas P. Corrales, Martin Panthöfer, Dieter Schollmeyer, Ingo Lieberwirth, Werner E. G. Müller, Michael Kappl, Hans-Jürgen Butt and Wolfgang Tremel
Flexible Minerals: Self-Assembled Calcite Spicules with Extreme Bending Strength
Science, 15 March 2013
DOI: 10.1126/science.1216260
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/339/6125/1298

Contact and further information: Professor Dr. Wolfgang Tremel
Institute of Inorganic Chemistry and Analytical Chemistry
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)
D 55099 Mainz, GERMANY
fax 49-6131-39-25605
http://www.ak-tremel.chemie.uni-mainz.de/index.php

Professor Dr. Hans-Jürgen Butt
Max Planck Institute of Polymer Research
Ackermannweg 12
D 55128 Mainz, GERMANY
e-mail: butt@mpip-mainz.mpg.de
http://www.mpic.de/en/research/biogeochemistry/group-jochum.html

Related links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNleh50Ug_k END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Improved detection of frontotemporal degeneration may aid clinical trial efforts

2013-03-15

SAN DIEGO - A series of studies demonstrate improved detection of the second most common form of dementia, providing diagnostic specificity that clears the way for refined clinical trials testing targeted treatments. The new research is being presented by experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego March 16-23, 2013. Frontotemporal degeneration, the most common dementia in people under 60, can be hereditary or sporadic in nature and caused by one of two different ...

Telestroke program increases access to stroke care by 40 percent

2013-03-15

SAN DIEGO - Telestroke programs substantially improve access to life-saving stroke care, extending coverage to less populated areas in an effort to reduce disparities in stroke care access. A new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, being presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego March 16-23, 2013, found that telemedicine programs in Oregon pushed stroke coverage into previously uncovered, less populated areas and expanded coverage by approximately 40 percent. "Telestroke ...

Discovery could yield treatment for cocaine addicts

2013-03-15

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Scientists have discovered a molecular process in the brain triggered by cocaine use that could provide a target for treatments to prevent or reverse addiction to the drug. Reporting in the Journal of Neuroscience, Michigan State University neuroscientist A.J. Robison and colleagues say cocaine alters the nucleus accumbens, the brain's pleasure center that responds to stimuli such as food, sex and drugs. "Understanding what happens molecularly to this brain region during long-term exposure to drugs might give us insight into how addiction occurs," ...

'Dirty blizzard' in Gulf may account for missing Deepwater Horizon oil

2013-03-15

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill acted as a catalyst for plankton and other surface materials to clump together and fall to the sea floor in a massive sedimentation event that researchers are calling a "dirty blizzard." Jeff Chanton, the John Widmer Winchester Professor of Oceanography in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University, is one of the members of the Deep-C Consortium who presented the dirty blizzard hypothesis at a recent conference in New Orleans that focused on the effects of the oil spill ...

Tau transmission model opens doors for new Alzheimer's, Parkinson's therapies

2013-03-15

SAN DIEGO – Injecting synthetic tau fibrils into animal models induces Alzheimer's-like tau tangles and imitates the spread of tau pathology, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania being presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego March 16-23, 2013. This Alzheimer's research, along with additional Parkinson's research from Penn and beyond, further demonstrates the cell-to-cell transmission of neurodegenerative proteins. John Q. Trojanowski, MD, PhD, co-director of the Center for ...

Kessler Foundation researchers share findings in rehabilitation research at AAN meeting in San Diego

2013-03-15

West Orange, NJ. March 15, 2013. Kessler Foundation scientists and their colleagues will discuss their progress in rehabilitation research at the upcoming 65th Annual American Academy of Neurology Conference at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA, March 16 – 23. A.M. Barrett, MD, director of Stroke Rehabilitation at Kessler Foundation will present on Pharmacologic Enhancement of Stroke Rehabilitation on Friday March 22, 2013 as part of a Specialty in Focus session on Neurorehabilitation Enhancement Techniques. This session addresses the contribution of brain ...

Study offers new insights on invasive fly threatening US fruit crops

2013-03-15

Humans aren't the only species with a sweet tooth. Research from North Carolina State University shows that the invasive spotted-wing vinegar fly (Drosophila suzukii) also prefers sweet, soft fruit – giving us new insight into a species that has spread across the United States over the past four years and threatens to cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to U.S. fruit crops. "Because we know that D. suzukii prefers softer, sweeter fruit, we can focus our research efforts into which wild fruits may serve as reservoirs for this species and help identify new crops ...

Report: Communications technology among tools needed to aid miner safety

2013-03-15

COLUMBUS, Ohio—A new National Academy of Sciences report identifies tools that would help miners devise their own means of escape when trapped underground. In part, the report suggests that The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) work closely with technology companies to develop new communications and tracking devices—ones that keep working underground after a mining accident. It also suggests that NIOSH and MSHA work with mining companies to enable frequent escape drills and extensive training ...

Mindfulness at school reduces likelihood of depression-related symptoms in adolescents

2013-03-15

Mindfulness is a form of meditation therapy focused on exercising 'attentiveness'. Depression is often rooted in a downward spiral of negative feelings and worries. Once a person learns to more quickly recognise these feelings and thoughts, he or she can intervene before depression sinks in. While mindfulness has already been widely tested and applied in patients with depression, this is the first time the method has been studied in a large group of adolescents in a school-based setting, using a randomised controlled design. The study was carried out at five middle schools ...

New NIST microscope measures nanomagnet property vital to 'spintronics'

2013-03-15

VIDEO: Animation of spin waves excited by a transient magnetic field pulse in a nanomagnet, as simulated with NIST micromagnetics software (Object Oriented MicroMagnetic Framework, or OOMMF). Click here for more information. Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new microscope able to view and measure an important but elusive property of the nanoscale magnets used in an advanced, experimental form of digital memory. The new instrument ...

Inspired by deep sea sponges: Creating flexible minerals

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: