Siliceous spicules enhance fracture-resistance and stiffness of pre-colonial Amazonian ceramics

Microdroplet Contaminants: When and Why Superamphiphobic Surfaces Are Not Self-Cleaning

Superamphiphobic surfaces are commonly associated with superior anticontamination and antifouling properties. Visually, this is justified by their ability to easily shed off drops and contaminants. However, on micropillar arrays, tiny droplets are known to remain on pillars' top faces while the drop advances. This raises the question of whether remnants remain even on nanostructured superamphiphobic surfaces. Are superamphiphobic surfaces really self-cleaning? Here we investigate the presence of microdroplet contaminants on three nanostructured superamphiphobic surfaces. After brief contact with liquids having different volatilities and surface tension (water, ethylene glycol, hexadecane, and an ionic liquid), confocal microscopy reveals a "blanket-like" layer of microdroplets remaining on the surface. It appears that the phenomenon is universal. Notably, when placing subsequent drops onto the contaminated surface, they are still able to roll off. However, adhesion forces can gradually increase by up to 3 times after repeated liquid drop contact. Therefore, we conclude that superamphiphobic surfaces do not warrant self-cleaning and anticontamination capabilities at sub-micrometric length scales.

Bacterially Produced, Nacre-Inspired Composite Materials

The impressive mechanical properties of natural composites, such as nacre, arise from their multiscale hierarchical structures, which span from nano- to macroscale and lead to effective energy dissipation. While some synthetic bioinspired materials have achieved the toughness of natural nacre, current production methods are complex and typically involve toxic chemicals, extreme temperatures, and/or high pressures. Here, the exclusive use of bacteria to produce nacre-inspired layered calcium carbonate-polyglutamate composite materials that reach and exceed the toughness of natural nacre, while additionally exhibiting high extensibility and maintaining high stiffness, is introduced. The extensive diversity of bacterial metabolic abilities and the possibility of genetic engineering allows for the creation of a library of bacterially produced, cost-effective, and eco-friendly composite materials.

Breaking Nano-Spaghetti: Bending and Fracture Tests of Nanofibers

Nanofibers composed of silica nanoparticles, used as structural building blocks, and polystyrene nanoparticles introduced as sacrificial material are fabricated by bicolloidal electrospinning. During fiber calcination, sacrificial particles are combusted leaving voids with controlled average sizes. The mechanical properties of the sintered silica fibers with voids are investigated by suspending the nanofiber over a gap and performing three-point bending experiments with atomic force microscopy. We investigate three different cases: fibers without voids and with 60 or 260 nm voids. For each case, we study how the introduction of the voids can be used to control the mechanical stiffness and fracture properties of the fibers. Fibers with no voids break in their majority at a single fracture point (70% of cases), segmenting the fiber into two pieces, while the remaining cases (30%) fracture at multiple points, leaving a gap in the suspended fiber. On the other hand, fibers with 60 nm voids fracture in only 25% of the cases at a single point, breaking predominantly at multiple points (75%). Finally, fibers with 260 nm voids fracture roughly in equal proportions leaving two and multiple pieces (46% vs 54%, respectively). The present study is a prerequisite for processes involving the controlled sectioning of nanofibers to yield anisometric particles.