Marine sponge forms a glass filament with a perfect periodic arrangement of nanopores
Monday, February 24, 2014 - 08:30
in Physics & Chemistry
Materials made by man and those made by biological organisms often deal with similar synthesis challenges – occasionally converging on an analogous solution independently. One example is the giant glass rod that is used by the sea sponge M. chuni to anchor itself in marine environments. A collaborative effort by researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Colloids and Interfaces and of Microstructure Physics has now uncovered and analysed the nanostructure of the filament passing through the centre of this giant glass rod.