Impact-resistant nacre-like transparent materials

Abstract

Nacre-inspired toughened glass Nacre is a biological composite that is present in seashells. This composite contains a small amount of organic material that toughens brittle ceramics, such that a highly regular three-dimensional brick-and-mortar assembly of microscopic mineral tablets is bonded together with biopolymers. Synthetic nacres have not been able to capture the large-scale sliding of the bricks that is key to enhancing toughness. Yin et al. applied this model to toughening glass, where square or hexagonal borosilicate glass sheets were bonded together using ethylene-vinyl acetate interlayers (see the Perspective by Datsiou). This generated a structure that allows glass plates to slide past each other. The resulting five-layered glass composite was deformable and impact resistant, while maintaining high stiffness, flexural strength, surface hardness, and transparency. Science , this issue p. 1260 ; see also p. 1232