Chakraborty, Anupam and Parveen, Saida and Chanda, Dipak Kr and Aditya, Gautam (2020) An insight into the structure, composition and hardness of a biological material: the shell of freshwater mussels. RSC Advances, 10 (49). pp. 29543-29554. ISSN 2046-2069

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Abstract

The shell of the freshwater mussel (Mollusca: Bivalvia) is a composite biological material linked with multifunctional roles in sustaining ecosystem services. Apart from providing mechanical strength and support, the shell is an important site for adherence and growth of multiple types of algae and periphyton. Variations in the shell architecture are observed in the mussels both within a species and among different species. Considering the prospective utility of the shell of the freshwater mussels as a biological material, an assessment of the shell characteristics was accomplished usingCorbicula bensoniandLamellidens marginalisas model species. The calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content of the shells, physical features and mechanical strength were assessed along with the morphometric analysis. The CaCO(3)content of the shell (upto 95% to 96% of the shell weight) of both the mussels was positively correlated with the shell length, suggesting increased deposition of CaCO(3)in shells with the growth of the species. The cross sectioned views of FE-SEM images of the shells exhibited distinct layered structure with external periostracum and inner nacreous layer varying distinctly. In the growing region, the growth line was prominent in the mussel shells revealed through the FESEM images. In addition XRD, FTIR and EDS studies on the mussel shells confirmed the existence of both aragonite and calcite forms of the calcium carbonate crystals with the incidence of various functional groups. The mechanical strength of the mussel shells was explored through nanoindentation experiments, revealed significant strength at the nanoparticle level of the shells. It was apparent from the results that the shell of the freshwater musselL. marginalisandC. bensoniqualify as a biological material with prospective multiple applications for human well-being and sustaining environmental quality.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Engineering Materials
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Bidhan Chaudhuri
Date Deposited:	05 Feb 2021 07:03
Last Modified:	05 Feb 2021 07:03
URI:	http://cgcri.csircentral.net/id/eprint/4920

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