title: The dynamics of nacre self-assembly.
abstract: We show how nacre and pearl construction in bivalve and gastropod molluscs can be understood in terms of successive processes of controlled self-assembly from the molecular- to the macro-scale. This dynamics involves the physics of the formation of both solid and liquid crystals and of membranes and fluids to produce a nanostructured hierarchically constructed biological composite of polysaccharides, proteins and mineral, whose mechanical properties far surpass those of its component parts.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, CSIC, P.T. Ciencias de la Salud, Armilla, Granada, Spain. julyan@lec.csic.es
authors.forename: Julyan H E
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cartwright
authors.forename: Antonio G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Checa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry; D003460:Crystallization; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008903:Minerals / Q000378:metabolism; D008974:Mollusca / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008903:Minerals; D011506:Proteins; D002686:Chitin