Amorphous Alumina Nanosheets/Polylactic Acid Artificial Nacre

Amorphous minerals as structural reinforcing phases that bind easily to biopolymers and dramatically enhance the mechanical reactions of natural hard materials have attracted extensive attention in recent years. However, few studies have focused on the enhancement mechanism of amorphous minerals in natural materials. Here, inspired by the amorphous mineral phase-reinforced strategy, we construct an optical transparent polylactic acid (PLA)-based amorphous artificial nacre with highly aligned lamellar architecture. These results demonstrate that the co-effect of efficient energy dissipation at the amorphous-reinforced hybrid interfaces and the large interfacial plastic deformation on multi-level scales result in an impressive mechanical enhancement of PLA. Such a strategy should be applicable to improve the fracture resistance of other similar materials, which in turn will stimulate the design of the next generation of structural and functional materials.