Bio-Inspired Synthesis of a Silicate/PMMA Composite

Abalone shell is composed of 95 wt% CaCO 3 platelets and 5 wt% of a protein-rich organic matrix which acts as an adhesive layer, connecting aragonite tablets, thus maintaining the structural integrity of the composite. By mimicking abalone shell, we prepared a silicate plate/polymer nanocomposite by infiltrating PMMA between silicate layers and warm-pressing them at 200 o C for 1 h under 15 tons to make organic-inorganic composite materials. To examine the organic-inorganic composite materials after the warm-pressing procedure, the composite sample was analyzed with FE-SEM and TG. The bending strengths and densities of the composites prepared by a silicate plate and PMMA after the warm-pressing process were ~140 MPa and 1.5, respectively.