Mother-of-Pearl on Ice: New ceramics might serve in bones and machines
By Peter Weiss
Beneath the shimmer of an oyster’s mother-of-pearl, an intricate microstructure bestows both strength and toughness on the natural ceramic. Now, scientists have come up with a way to replicate that structure in humanmade substances.
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The process exploits one of the most common transformations in nature—the freezing of water—so it’s remarkably simple and potentially inexpensive and environmentally friendly, its developers say.