title: Comparative study on nano-mechanics and thermodynamics of fish otoliths.
abstract: Fish otolith is a kind of typical natural biomineral, which is composed of calcium carbonate and organic matrix. In fresh water carp otolith, the inorganic phase of lapillus is pure aragonite, and for asteriscus it is pure vaterite. In this research, the phase composition, phase transformation, mechanical property and solubility of lapillus and asteriscus were studied. And results showed that, the organic content of lapillus was higher than that of asteriscus; the phase-transition temperature of lapillus (aragonite-calcite) and asteriscus (vaterite-calcite) both happened between 520 and 640 °C; the nano-mechanical property of lapillus was better than that of asteriscus; the solubility of asteriscus powder was higher than that of lapillus powder.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Ren
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dongni
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Gao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yonghua
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China. Electronic address: biomater@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qingling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010037:Otolithic Membrane / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012995:Solubility; D012996:Solutions; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman; D013816:Thermodynamics; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D012996:Solutions