@article {19344, title = {Nacre-inspired nanocomposites produced using layer-by-layer assembly: design strategies and biomedical applications}, journal = {Alves, NM}, volume = {76 }, year = {2017}, month = {2017-02-01 00:00:00}, pages = {1263-1273 }, publisher = {Elsevier}, abstract = {

Biomimetics constitutes an attractive strategy for the development of new functional materials in a variety of
fields. Nacre is a natural composite composed of 95\% aragonite and 5\% organicmaterialswith a layered and hierarchical structure which has be shown to have high toughness and mechanical strength and resistance. As such, mimicking nacre{\textquoteright}s composition and structure can be the key for the development of new materials with increasedmechanical properties and stability. This review focuses on recent developments achieved in the production of nacre-like nanocomposites using the layer-by-layer deposition technique. This techniquewas chosen due to its ability to create nanostructured layered structures with thickness controlled at thenanoscale level using a wide range of different materials. Several examples of nacre-inspired designs of multilayer nanocomposites are overviewed, and their possible applications are discussed, in particular in the biomedical field.

}, keywords = {layer-by-layer, nacre}, issn = {0928-4931}, doi = {10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.043}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.043}, author = {Rodrigues, J. R. and Alves, N. M. and Mano, J. F.} }