Strong, Fracture-Resistant Biomimetic Silicon Carbide Composites with Laminated Interwoven Nanoarchitectures Inspired by the Crustacean Exoskeleton

Crustacean exoskeletons demonstrate exceptional mechanical efficiency owing to their intricate architectures. However, the translation of their underlying structural design to man-made material systems represents a challenge. Here we report the “top-down” fabrication using freeze casting of silicon carbide hybrid composites which contain a compliant phase and mimic the structure of crustacean exoskeletons. The composites display laminated...