In article number 2313516, Reza Moini, Shashank Gupta, and Hadi S. Esmaeeli engineer tough Nacre-like tabulated cementitious-polymeric composites inspired by the brick-and-mortar arrangement of mollusk shells using laser processing and lamination. Interlayer deformation, tortuous crack propagation guided by tabulated architecture, and crack bridging are the main toughening mechanisms, leading to rising resistance curves. Tablet sliding prevents tablet failure, enhancing fracture toughness and ductility by 17.1 and 19 folds, respectively.
From seashells to concrete, nature inspires tougher building material. In an article published June 10 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the research team led by Moini, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, reported that creating alternating hard-soft cementitious materials that surpasses conventional cement paste in crack resistance and ductility by an order of magnitude without sacrificing the strength.
Inspired by the brick‐and‐mortar arrangement of mollusk shells, the co-authors Shashank Gupta and Hadi S. Esmaeeli, engineered tough nacre-like tabulated cementitious-polymeric composites that enhance fracture toughness and ductility by 17.1 and 19 folds, respectively. Tablet sliding is one of the key toughening mechanisms in natural materials and was enabled in architected cementitious counterparts by laser processing cement paste into individual tablets and grooved patterns (as intentional defects) and laminating them with limited amounts of suitable elastomeric (polyvinyl siloxane) interlayers. This mechanisms-focused approach to bio-inspired design scratches the surface for developing damage-resilient and flaw-tolerant architected cementitious materials at scale through minimal use of polymer and facile laser processing pathways. Besides tablet sliding, interlayer deformation, tortuous crack propagation guided by tabulated architecture, and crack bridging are the main toughening mechanisms,
A public summary is released in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Princeton about this article here.