Abiotic tooth enamel

Nanometre-scale columnar structures in tooth enamel inspire novel nanocomposites containing layers of vertically aligned nanowires, produced by layer-by-layer fabrication and combining high values of both storage modulus and energy dissipation. Biomimetic composite materials often take the form of nacre-like structures in which platelets are arranged in layers. Here Nicholas Kotov and colleagues take inspiration from the nanoscale columnar...