Biomimicry of Limpet Teeth with Colloidal Liquid Crystals of Minerals and Polysaccharides

The teeth of limpets, consisting of orderly aligned hard goethite (iron oxyhydroxide) nanocrystals and flexible chitin microfibers, are one of the hardest and stiffest biomaterials found in nature. However, the replication of their composition and ordered microstructures to artificial biomimetic materials remains a challenge. Here, we fabricated large-sized limpet tooth analogues with hierarchically ordered structures by applying long-range orientational control to the short-scale self-assembly of hybrid colloidal liquid crystals formed by chitin nanocrystals and goethite nanorods. The obtained composite laminates exhibited excellent bending resistance compared to biomaterials, cement, and ceramics. These results suggest that the mass production of structurally ordered materials with high strength and toughness may be achieved by using lyotropic liquid crystals.