Fabrication of bioinspired structured alumina composites with enhanced fracture toughness

Strength and toughness have been generally deemed as two incompatible properties in many materials. However, balanced toughness and strength have been observed in biomaterials, whose hard and soft phases are arranged into a unique and hierarchical architecture. Therefore, it is essential to develop processing technologies that can mimic the structures observed in biomaterials. In this work, bioinspired alumina-PMMA composites were achieved via...