Crossed Microstructure of Mineral Chitin Fiber Sheets of Lobster Cuticle

Abstract:

The observation of scanning electron microscope shows that the cuticle of lobster is a natural bioceramic composite consisting of mineral chitin fiber layers and collagen protein matter. The mineral chitin fiber layers are parallel with the surface of the cuticle and the collagen protein matter is distributed in the layers as the matrix felting the fiber layers. The careful observation shows that the mineral chitin fiber layers are further composed of thin and orderly mineral chitin fiber sheets which are vertical to the fiber layers. The observation also shows that the mineral chitin fiber sheets in different fiber layers have different orientations, which compose a fiber crossed microstructure. The maximum pullout force of the fiber crossed microstructure is investigated and compared with that of the fiber parallel microstructure based on their representative models. The result indicates that the maximum pullout force of the fiber crossed structure is markedly larger than that of the fiber parallel structure. The analytical result is experimentally validated. The research result provides profitable guidance for the design of the high-performance ceramic composites.

Key words:lobster cuticle; mineral chitin fiber sheets; fiber crossed microstructure; maximum pullout force