2015/11/19 by Ling Li, Matthew J. Connors, Mathias Kolle +5 · 2 citations
Materials Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition #Cephalopods and Marine Biology #Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies #Armour #Camouflage #Materials science #Multitude #Nanotechnology #Crystallite #Computer science #Artificial intelligence #Metallurgy
paper · doi:10.1126/science.aad1246
openalex publication_date 2015/11/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Nature provides a multitude of examples of multifunctional structural materials in which trade-offs are imposed by conflicting functional requirements. One such example is the biomineralized armor of the chiton Acanthopleura granulata, which incorporates an integrated sensory system that includes hundreds of eyes with aragonite-based lenses. We use optical experiments to demonstrate that these microscopic lenses are able to form images. Light scattering by the polycrystalline lenses is minimized by the use of relatively large, crystallographically aligned grains. Multiscale mechanical testing reveals that as the size, complexity, and functionality of the integrated sensory elements increase, the local mechanical performance of the armor decreases. However, A. granulata has evolved several strategies to compensate for its mechanical vulnerabilities to form a multipurpose system with co-optimized optical and structural functions.