@article{c2329776c4704d739f11c79d760e52ab,
title = "Mechanical adaptation of brachiopod shells via hydration-induced structural changes",
abstract = "The function-optimized properties of biominerals arise from the hierarchical organization of primary building blocks. Alteration of properties in response to environmental stresses generally involves time-intensive processes of resorption and reprecipitation of mineral in the underlying organic scaffold. Here, we report that the load-bearing shells of the brachiopod Discinisca tenuis are an exception to this process. These shells can dynamically modulate their mechanical properties in response to a change in environment, switching from hard and stiff when dry to malleable when hydrated within minutes. Using ptychographic X-ray tomography, electron microscopy and spectroscopy, we describe their hierarchical structure and composition as a function of hydration to understand the structural motifs that generate this adaptability. Key is a complementary set of structural modifications, starting with the swelling of an organic matrix on the micron level via nanocrystal reorganization and ending in an intercalation process on the molecular level in response to hydration.",
author = "Johannes Ihli and Schenk, {Anna S.} and Sabine Rosenfeldt and Klaus Wakonig and Mirko Holler and Giuseppe Falini and Luca Pasquini and Eug{\'e}nia Delacou and Jim Buckman and Glen, {Thomas S.} and Thomas Kress and Tsai, {Esther H. R.} and Reid, {David G.} and Duer, {Melinda J.} and Maggie Cusack and Fabio Nudelman",
note = "Funding Information: The work of W.K. and I.J. is supported by funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF), Project nos. 179886 and 200021. A.S. acknowledges financial support by the German Research Foundation (DFG) via Collaborative Research Center SFB 840. M.C. acknowledges the support of NERC grant No. NE/P011063/1 to M.C. Further funding from the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 program is acknowledged (Grant no. 730872, CALIPSOplus). PXCT was performed at the coherent small-angle X-ray scattering (cSAXS) beamline at the Swiss Light Source at the Paul Scherrer Institut. SAXS was performed using the facilities of the KeyLab “Mesoscale Characterization: Scattering Techniques” of the Bavarian Polymer Institute (BPI). WAXS was performed using beamline 11BM of the National Synchrotron Light Source II and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), both are U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facilities operated for by Brookhaven National Laboratory (Contract no. DESC0012704). We thank R. Li for his assistance with the WAXS measurements. Cryo-FIB-SEM was performed at the facilities at the University of Edinburgh (EPSRC grant No., EP/P030564/1). The used SasView application, originally developed under Grant no. NSF award DMR-0520547, contains code developed under Grant no. 654000, SINE2020. We thank Thermofisher Scientific for the assistance with the preparation of FIB-SEM lamella and STEM imaging. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s).",
year = "2021",
month = sep,
day = "10",
doi = "10.1038/s41467-021-25613-4",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
journal = "Nature Communications",
issn = "2041-1723",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
}