{"id":7475,"date":"2013-02-17T14:57:34","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T21:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=7475"},"modified":"2013-02-17T15:03:30","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T22:03:30","slug":"chew-on-this-how-a-snail-might-teach-us-how-to-make-better-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/chew-on-this-how-a-snail-might-teach-us-how-to-make-better-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"Chew on This: How a Snail Might Teach Us How to Make Better Batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Radula: A flexible tonguelike organ in certain mollusks, having rows of horny teeth on the surface. [Latin r dula, scraper, from r dere, to scrape]\u00a0freedictionary.com<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Gumboot Chiton is not pretty, and is downright ugly when turned over.\u00a0 The rows of molars on its underside are wonderfully suited though, to scraping algae off rocks, and the hardness of its dentures is something materials scientists study closely.\u00a0 The Chiton, described as a \u201cwandering meatloaf\u201d because of its hump of leathery brown upper skin, may not have an alluring personality, but is teeth are<\/em> magnetic, leading to University of California, Riverside assistant professor David Kisailus\u2019<\/a> attraction to them.<\/p>\n

Kisailus, specializing in chemical and environmental engineering, and his fellow researchers may have found lessons in nature, and in the mouth of this marine snail, \u201cto create less costly and more efficient nanoscale materials to improve solar cells and lithium-ion batteries,\u201d according to the University.<\/p>\n

Up to a foot long, \u201cChitons have evolved to eat algae growing on and within rocks using a specialized rasping organ called a radula, a conveyer belt-like structure in the mouth that contains 70 to 80 parallel rows of teeth. During the feeding process, the first few rows of the teeth are used to grind rock to get to the algae. They become worn, but new teeth are continuously produced and enter the \u201cwear zone\u201d at the same rate as teeth are shed,\u201d as noted in the University\u2019s press release.<\/p>\n

Kisailus started studying chitons five years ago because of his interest in abrasion and impact-resistant materials, having found previously that chiton teeth contain the hardest biomineral known on Earth. Magnetite in the chiton\u2019s choppers makes the teeth hard, and magnetic.<\/p>\n

In the just-published paper, \u201cPhase transformations and structural developments in the radular teeth of Cryptochiton stelleri,\u201d Kisailus and his research team describe how the chiton\u2019s teeth form, a three step lesson in biomimicry of import to those developing batteries and solar cells, oddly enough.<\/p>\n