High Strain and High Stiffness Coatings with Cellular Structures
Project Leader(s)
UC Santa Barbara
Research Focus Area
The California mussel, Mytilus californianus, is shown attached to a solid surface by a fibrous byssus. All parts of the byssus are covered by a thin (5-10 µm thick) cuticle.
Living organisms sometimes live in high-energy habitats that necessitate unusual adaptations for survival. The mussel is one such inhabiting the high intertidal seashore where it withstands unrelenting sandblasting with flow velocities as high as 10 m/sec. To shield its holdfast known as a byssus from abrasion damage, the mussel has evolved a protective coating that ranks among the toughest materials known. Ongoing research addresses how this material is made by the mussel and will use this knowledge to inspire synthetic materials of comparable or better toughness.
Date Completed
